Floods Leave Paris Contemplating a Wetter Future<br />In Paris, where the Seine rose above 18 feet on Friday, river traffic has been interrupted and roads along the river banks remained closed.<br />“Because of climate change, we can expect floods in the Seine basin to be at least as frequent<br />as they are right now,” said Florence Habets, a senior researcher at the C. N.R.<br />The Seine River overflowed its banks again in Paris and several nearby cities this week, a mere 18 months after reaching its highest level since 1982.<br />“Beyond the emergency, this flooding phenomenon, which is more<br />and more recurrent in Paris, reminds us how important it is for our city to adapt to climate change,” she said in a tweet.<br />Although local officials said they were now prepared to face similar conditions, experts from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimated<br />that such a catastrophe could affect five million people and cost up to 30 billion euros, or about $37 billion.<br />In 1910, the Seine rose above 28 feet, giving Paris “the aspect of a beleaguered place,” according to a New York Times report of the time.
