Concerns over flooding have forced Paris’s Louvre to initiate emergency protocols in order to protect the historic institution’s collection.
The River Seine is expected to reach three times its normal level following a series of rainstorms that started last week. As a result, the museum has closed its Department of Islamic Arts until 28 January while exhibits are moved to higher ground.
The museum’s plan also includes regular drills with staff and daily monitoring from Paris’s fire service.
“The emergency response team is monitoring the situation in real time and will implement all necessary measures to prevent flood risk,” said a Louvre statement.
In the future, a satellite storage site in Liévin, currently under construction, will also be used in similar instances to store vulnerable works.
This is the second time in less than two years that flooding has caused chaos in the French capital, with both the Louvre and Musée d'Orsay temporarily closed in June 2016 so that their priceless works could be protected. In that instance, the water reached 6.07m - the highest levels in a century. These current floods are expected to exceed those levels.
Also on the banks of the Seine, the Musée d’Orsay remains open at present but has cancelled an event this evening (25 January), which it says is in line with its flood protection plan.
