Paris prepares for another great flood

[webfact]

Paris prepares for another great flood



PARIS: -- An emergency simulation drill is underway in Paris, to see how the French capital would cope if the Rivers Seine and Marne burst their banks. They are preparing for the possibility of a major flood – on the scale of city’s Great Flood of 1910.

The exercise will test decision making and coordination between city’s authorities.

Nobody knows when, or even if, another big flood will happen.

Another Paris flood could cover up to 500 square kilometers, affecting more than 800,000 people. Power cuts would plunge over a million families into darkness and thousands would need to be evacuated to emergency shelters.

In 1955 the Seine and Marne overflowed onto the streets of Paris, and more recently in 1979 the rivers rose to near record highs.

If the rivers burst their banks today, repairing the damage would cost in the region of 20 billion euros.

The French authorities need to make sure that, if another great flood does hit, their emergency plans will run as smoothly as possible.

-- (c) Copyright Euronews 2016-03-08

[soalbundy]

Oh look Thailand, preparedness, looking ahead, making plans.

[bluebluewater]

The flood in Thailand in 2011 affected MILLIONS of people and lasted for about 3 months give or take. Still, nothing much has really been done to see that it does not happen again.

[SOTIRIOS]

.....let the refugees wait.......

...unless they know something and they are not telling us........

[Geoffggi]

Following the floods last year the government issued a statement that all drains would be cleared, in addition where building works had reduced the dimensions of any flood ditches the owners would have to reinstate the drainage to its original state, as usual nothing done, first flood this year all the drains were blocked once again resulting in floods after a relatively short duration of rainfall.