Flooding in France: the tragedies of the 20th and 21st centuries

The flood in France, affecting first of all the city of Paris and its nearest suburbs in 1910, is rightly considered to be the largest in the history of the country. Peak rise in water level in the local river Seine fell on the twentieth of January. At that time there were abundant showers, which provoked an increased melting of snow in the city.

Chronicle of flooding

On the twentieth of January the navigation on the Seine was completely stopped. The ships simply could not pass under the numerous bridges of Paris. The flood in France reached its apogee on the twenty-first of January. Industrial enterprises concentrated near the Seine began to close.

Up to the first of February, the flood in France paralyzed the country's economic life. The damage caused to the municipal economy of Paris by water was estimated at four hundred million francs, which is one and a half billion euros.

Spirited element

Another major flood that paralyzed life in the country occurred at the very beginning of summer 2010. This flood in the south of France will be remembered for a long time not only by farmers and peasants of the French provinces, but also by their neighbors: Italians, Serbs and Poles. As a result of floods in France, more than two dozen people died. There were those missing in sunny Italy.

Most of all went to Romania. There were thirty accidents in the country, and dozens of settlements were flooded.

Water breaks records

In 2015, a flood in France killed more than ten people. The water flooded the resort regions located in the south of the country. Huge economic damage was caused to Cannes and Nice. Most of all during the flooding suffered the French town of Antibes.

To save the victims, small aircraft, including helicopters, were used. Within the framework of the operation, a flooded automobile tunnel was inspected, in which people were found experiencing the elements in the salons of their cars.

Victims of 2016

The leap year of 2016 was no less tragic for France than its predecessor. Due to the sharp rise in water levels, dozens of settlements were flooded in the country's rivers, including Paris.

The culprit was a rainy May, during which a record amount of precipitation fell. According to meteorologists, nothing like this happened in France for a hundred and fifty years!

Paris was surrounded by rescuers. The management of the metropolis closed the Louvre and other important cultural sites. More than five thousand townspeople were evacuated.