Flooding in Paris: Photos of the Seine

Don't try walking along the banks of the Seine today! Photos by Bryan Pirolli

Paris’ Seine River has flooded and risen to its highest point since 1982, expected to peak today at 21 feet.

What does this mean for residents and for tourists visiting the city? Barriers have been erected along the Seine to hold water back, and the city’s two most famous art museums, the Louvre and Musée d’Orsay, have closed and are shuffling around some of their lower-level collections to avoid any possible damage.

Furthermore, tourist cruises along the Seine have been canceled, as boats aren’t able to clear the bridges.

This boat isn’t going under any bridges soon. All photos by Bryan Pirolli.

Other challenges to tourists, however, are minimal, according to correspondent Bryan Pirolli. “Traffic is a little bit of a pain, because the quais are closed along the river, but overall it is business as usual. If you never saw the Seine before, you may not even notice at first glance that it is higher than usual.”

The water level is expected to peak tonight, but recede in the coming days. We asked Bryan to share some photos of the historic flooding. He took these shots today: