The 1910 Great Flood of Paris (French: Crue de la Seine de 1910) was a catastrophe in which the Seine River, carrying winter rains from its tributaries, flooded the conurbation of Paris, France. The Seine water level rose eight meters (more than 26 feet) above the ordinary level.
Chronology
In the winter of 1909–1910, Paris and the surrounding area experienced higher than normal rainfall which saturated the ground and filled rivers to overflowing. In January 1910, Parisians were preoccupied with daily life and lulled into a false sense of security because the Seine's water level had risen and fallen again in December. Consequently, they largely ignored reports of mudslides and flooding occurring upriver. They were also slow to notice warnings signs within the city as the Seine's water level rose eight meters (26.2467 ft) higher than normal; its water began to flow much faster than normal, and large amounts of debris appeared.
By late January, water pushed upwards from overflowing sewers and subway tunnels, then seeped into basements through fully saturated soil and from the sewer system that got backed up, which led to the basements of several buildings sustaining damage. The river did not break its banks within the city, but flooded Paris through the tunnels, sewers, and drains. The larger sewer tunnels, which had been engineered by Baron Haussmann and Eugene Belgrand in 1878, worsened the destruction caused by the 1910 floods. In neighboring towns both east and west of the capital, the river rose above its banks and flooded the surrounding terrain directly.
Winter floods were normal in Paris but, on 21 January, the river began to rise more rapidly than normal. This was treated as a sort of spectacle and people actually stood in the streets watching the water rise. Over the course of the following week, thousands of Parisians were evacuated their homes as water infiltrated buildings and streets throughout the city, shutting down much basic infrastructure. The infrastructure was more vulnerable to flooding because most of it was built within the sewage system in order to avoid cluttering the streets.
Police, firemen, and soldiers moved through waterlogged streets in boats to rescue stranded residents from second-story windows and to distribute aid. Refugees gathered in makeshift shelters in churches, schools, and government buildings. Although the water threatened to overflow the tops of the quay walls lining the river, workmen were able to keep the Seine back with hastily built levees.
After the river invaded the Gare d'Orsay rail terminal, the tracks sat under more than a meter (3.28 feet) of water. To continue moving throughout the city, residents traveled by boat or across a series of wooden walkways built by government engineers and civilians.
On 28 January the water reached its maximum height at 8.62 meters (28.28 feet) above its normal level. The Seine finally returned to normal levels in March.
Consequences
Estimates of the flood damage reached some four hundred million francs, or $1.5 billion in today's money. The flooding lasted nearly a week, according to one report. Remarkably, despite the damage and duration of the flood, no deaths were reported.
There were fears that an outbreak of disease would occur after debris from flooded homes piled into the streets, but no significant outbreak occurred.
Literature and media
- The Knowledge of Water by Sarah Smith, Ballantine, New York (1996) ISBN 0-345-39135-7
- The flood provided the setting for the 2011 animated film A Monster in Paris.
- In Stealing Mona Lisa (2011) by Carson Morton, the flood is the setting of the climax of the novel. ISBN 9780312621711
- In Bertrand Bonello's 2023 film, The Beast, the flood is depicted.
Image gallery
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Pont Alexandre III during the flood
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rue de la Convention
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Avenue Félix-Faure
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Cour de Rome, gare Saint-Lazare
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Rue de Poitiers
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Rue de Seine
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Rue Trousseau
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Trousseau Square
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References
- "Is Paris prepared if Seine floods?". BBC. 27 December 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
- Guguen, Guillaume (6 March 2016). "Paris region prepares in case of 'flood of the century'". France 24. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
- ^ Jackson, Jeffrey (2010). Paris Under Water: How the City of Light Survived the Great Flood of 1910. New York, NY: Palgrave MacMillan. ISBN 978 0-230-61706-3.
- ^ Jackson, Jeffrey H. (2010). Paris under water : how the city of light survived the great flood of 1910 (1st Palgrave Macmillan pbk. ed.). New York, N.Y.: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0230108042.
- ^ Jackson, Jeffrey H. (2010). Paris under water : how the city of light survived the great flood of 1910 (1st ed.). New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0230617063.
- 7 January 2010, The Guardian, Flooding in Paris in 1910 Accessed 16 Dec 2010
Sources
Jeffrey H. Jackson, Paris Under Water: How the City of Light Survived the Great Flood of 1910 (NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010)
External links
Media related to Great flood of Paris in 1910 at Wikimedia Commons
- Crue de la Seine (in French)
- Postcard collection of flood photographs
- Images by photographer Pierre Petit
- Assemblée nationale website on the 1910 flood (in French)
- The flood's impact on Parisian hospitals Archived 31 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine (in French)
- L'explosition virtuelle Paris Inondé 1910: Galerie des bibliothèques, Ville de Paris
- Revisiting the flood 100 years later