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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2016 11:51:52 GMT
A month of rain in Paris will not make the Seine rise to flood levels. However, a month of rain east of Paris will do the trick, and that's what's happening now. Many of the towns near Fontainebleau are completely flooded. I just Whatsapped my former colleague who lives in Moret-sur-Loing to check on her. Her house is not in the water, but she sent me a series of photos of all of the houses along the raging Loing that are flooded. Here is a photo from my report a few years ago, and I'm sure it must be a pretty grim sight at the moment -- and will remain so for some time after the water has withdrawn. Okay, but back to Paris. Here it's all about the 'zouave' of the Pont de l'Alma. Naturally there is an official gauge for flood measurement, but Parisians and the media in general look to the zouave to know if there is a flood or not.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2016 12:03:36 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2016 12:38:17 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2016 12:47:44 GMT
I don't think the water will get any higher since the rain is stopping, but I could be mistaken. The Loing runs into the Seine, and here is one of my colleague's photos from Moret. imageshack.com/a/img923/3959/3nBTdN.jpg
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Post by mossie on Jun 1, 2016 13:14:21 GMT
Thanks for showing us what a little bit of nature can do.
I must say I do not approve of the new Pont des Arts, enough to frighten the horses.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2016 14:00:54 GMT
A great report K2, thanks for braving the the waters so to speak. I heard about the flooding on the radio for the past few days. Scary situation, we here being no stranger to rising tides and such.
The art exhibit I found fascinating if not a tad creepy. Some of the sculptures I enjoyed much more than others. I would take this artist over someone like Jeff Koons any day. (I have never understood Koons appeal). I mention him because I just ran across a new installment of his in Miami yesterday.
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Post by fumobici on Jun 1, 2016 15:03:27 GMT
Hmmmm. I didn't realize the Seine was so high, I am usually more in tune with the Parisian weather this time of year courtesy of the Roland Garros tennis tournament, but it has been moved to a TV channel I don't get this year and so have missed this year's interminable rain delays. Looks like the situation is close to getting serious, the tunnel will surely be a big clean up once the waters have gone down although I assume they've designed it so all the vital bits are protected. As for the art display on the bridge, I rather like it. The artist displays an impressive knowledge of human anatomy, and the workmanship is excellent even if the overall appeal is a bit adolescent/horror movie.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 1, 2016 15:38:46 GMT
What a mess! It's a good thing school is out, but there must be a lot of people missing work. Will the recently-cleaned canals be affected? I guess you must have been ducking rain to get those photos.
Fumobici summed up the exhibition more elegantly than I, as I mostly thought that someone of talent and expertise had been watching too many zombie epics. I hope you're right, Kerouac, that the tone of the exhibition will keep the mundanely romantic from reapplying their lock idiocy to the bridge.
Would you mind terribly linking to the thread containing that lovely first picture in the OP? Thanks!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2016 15:48:47 GMT
School will not be out in France until the end of the month.
Bixa, I did make a link to the other report with the words "my report."
I suppose those statues will be in place for at least a couple of months (they were installed on May 25th), and I grin to myself in advance at the thought of certain families with inquisitive children coming across the display, even though they will encounter many such anatomical details all over Europe albeit perhaps not always so prominent.
They are saying now that the Seine will continue to rise in Paris until at least Saturday morning. I saw an impress aerial photo on the news of the château of Chambord in the Loire Valley sitting in the middle of a lake. I'm sure that quite a few tourist attractions must be closed in the northern half of the country -- and there is quite a bit of flooding in the rest of Europe, too.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 1, 2016 15:55:08 GMT
Ack. I looked up school times in France online, but got confused by the different zones. So classes are disrupted too, right? Thanks for the heads-up on the link. I believe the link color is not distinct enough on the skin I'm using. Is this weather because of La Niña? If so, I guess that would mean more of same.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2016 16:03:43 GMT
Actually, schools have been closed in just one French département due to general flooding, the Loiret -- that's where Orléans is.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2016 16:55:30 GMT
I like the art.
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Post by bjd on Jun 1, 2016 17:42:55 GMT
I just listened to the news on the radio. They indeed said the zouave has water up to his knees.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2016 18:43:06 GMT
Besides showing the Loiret and also Chambord in the Loir-et-Cher next door, the news concentrated on Seine-et-Marne which is both south and upstream from Paris. It is where the previously mentioned Moret-sur-Loing is located. Quite a bit of it is underwater, and the city of Nemours is being totally evacuated because it no longer has any electricity or running water. Of course holdouts are allowed to stay after a lengthy discussion with authorities about the risks. All of them obviously have homes with one or two floors above ground level.
Meanwhile, the flood stage in Paris might go up to 5 metres, and it is going to rain tomorrow. There are 4 major retention lakes to keep the Seine from flooding. 3 of them are 90% full and one of them is 100% full. The RER C suburban rail line that runs along the Seine in Paris in the direction of Versailles will be the next thing to be knocked out of service if the water keeps going up to at least 4.50m. Replacement bus service is being organised to deal with the problem. Naturally, if it is submerged, it takes a certain amount of time to put back in service even after the water has receded.
So, there are quite a few things on which to keep an eye.
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Post by htmb on Jun 1, 2016 18:54:32 GMT
I've been reading this interesting report, but will not be able to see the photos until I get home. This is torture!
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Post by lugg on Jun 1, 2016 19:20:27 GMT
I had no idea before reading this that there was such a problem with flooding in the areas around Paris and Paris itself . When I first looked at the bridge I could not see how the locks would not be re-applied but I think the photo below the text
explains it maybe - are the sides made of Perspex or something similar now?
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Post by htmb on Jun 1, 2016 19:37:25 GMT
There's a lot more water than I had the originally thought! It sounds like there must be many people in the smaller towns negatively impacted by all the water.
I guess I might need to pack some hip-waders.
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Post by htmb on Jun 1, 2016 19:46:39 GMT
Kerouac, did you take any photos of the Jardin Vert Galant? From looking at the edge of one shot, I assume it's flooded over.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2016 20:04:23 GMT
]explains it maybe - are the sides made of Perspex or something similar now? They have put glass (or plexiglas) panels on the sides, and I was quite impressed at how perfectly clean and transparent they were today. I've been expecting the sour grapes lovelockers to scratch their names on the panels. Kerouac, did you take any photos of the Jardin Vert Galant? From looking at the edge of one shot, I assume it's flooded over. If you look at the second Samaritaine photo in reply #2, it shows the access to the Square du Vert Galant underwater (as well as the access to the Vedettes du Pont Neuf), but the square itself is not yet underwater. However, the tip with the willow tree is underwater since it is much lower. I thought I had posted those photos, so I thank you for bringing it to my attention that I did not. I should mention that it is pouring rain again tonight, so this event it definitely not finished yet.
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Post by htmb on Jun 1, 2016 20:15:23 GMT
Thanks. The second La Samarataine photo was the one that caught my eye originally.
Where does all the traffic go when the Georges Pompidou Expressway is closed? Does the surface street in front of La Samarataine get clogged with traffic?
I have known about the plan to permanently close the expressway, but had thought that was going to be, basically, to the east of Place du Chatelet. I'm wondering how the closure will impact traffic in that area.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2016 21:35:20 GMT
The plan is to eliminate as much traffic as possible by convincing people that it is not a good idea to drive into Paris. Traffic has been reduced already something like 20% over the last 2 years. Parisians love it, suburbanites hate it.
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Post by htmb on Jun 1, 2016 21:40:12 GMT
Oh, I gathered that, but wondered if it was going to work in the short term. I suppose I will find out first hand really soon.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2016 22:55:02 GMT
According to city hall, it only takes 6 minutes longer to drive on the upper quays.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2016 5:54:48 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2016 13:45:54 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2016 13:54:22 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2016 14:07:20 GMT
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Post by mossie on Jun 2, 2016 14:13:41 GMT
Thanks for keeping us up to date, what a disaster now the main tourist season is starting. I hope htmb's holiday is not badly affected.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2016 14:17:54 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 2, 2016 16:50:07 GMT
Good grief -- so much more dramatic than yesterday, which was dramatic enough! Fabulous reportage, Kerouac, and -- if it's not too frivolous to say in this context -- killer photographs.
Apologies if this was already addressed, but are there official estimates as to the time and size of the flood's cresting?
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