Paris closes the Louvre and Orsay

PARIS. Two of the world’s greatest art museums take extraordinary measures to protect their collections from flooding caused by rising water levels in the Seine. French officials have already closed The louvre museum and tens of thousands of art objects from the museum’s underground storerooms will be evacuated to a safe place. A little earlier, on Thursday evening, the Museum of d’Orsay announced emergency evacuation measures.

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Despite official assurances that there was no flood threat, troubling moods in the French capital grew throughout Friday. Dozens of cities in the east and south of Paris have already been hit by the worst flooding in decades. On Thursday, the water level in the Seine rose above the "alarm" by 5 meters, on Friday - already at 6.5 m.

Hay piers were under water. The popular island near the Eiffel Tower is completely submerged. The passage of pleasure boats and commercial barges through the city is temporarily prohibited. In the eastern part of Paris, some highways as well as suburban rail lines along the left bank of the Seine are blocked.

Francois Duquesne, head of Vigicrues, an agency that controls the water level in France, said: “The water level in the Seine is still rising, but will not reach the record 8.5 meters recorded in 1910 (when large areas of the capital were flooded within 45 days). ”

The city has declared the penultimate orange danger level, and east of Paris it has been raised to the maximum red. A number of experts warn that the weather forecast remains unpredictable. The situation is complicated by the fact that a football tournament Euro 2016 is due to begin in a week. The giant "fan zone", capable of accommodating up to 100,000 people, was built just on the Champ de Mars, next to the Eiffel Tower and close to the river.

72 hours are allotted for the evacuation of paintings and sculptures to the upper floors of the Louvre, 96 hours for the Museum d’Orsay. In practice, a rescue operation usually takes less time. For example, in March, employees of the Louvre evacuated the entire underground part of their Islamic art gallery in just a day.

Anna Sidorova © Gallerix.ru