Jim Bittermann and Angela Dewan
PARIS — (CNN) The “Mona Lisa” will stay dry on an upper floor in the Louvre as art museums in Paris scramble to protect their world-famous artworks from deadly floods in the region.
Flooding in France, Germany and Austria has killed 11 people as of Friday — 10 of them in southern Germany and one in France, authorities said. A 74-year-old man riding a horse on the southeastern outskirts of Paris was swept away by the flood waters, CNN affiliate BFMTV reported.
Parts of the German state of Bavaria have been profoundly affected, with some houses completely inundated and cars abandoned in the deluge.
In the French capital, the Louvre said it was moving artworks from its lower levels to higher ground.
“Due to the level of the river Seine, the Musée du Louvre will be exceptionally closed to the public on June 3, 2016 to ensure the protection of the works located in flood zones. We apologize for any inconvenience caused,” it said on its website.
The Musée d’Orsay, which houses a rich collection of paintings by Van Gogh, Cézanne and Manet, also shut its doors for the day as the Seine river, which flows through the heart of Paris, rose to 5.5 meters (18 feet) overnight. Environmental officials say it could rise to 6.20 meters or more (more than 20 feet) by Friday evening, the highest in more than 30 years.
According to French weather service Météo Villes, when the Seine hits 6 meters, all train lines running next to its banks will be closed. At 6.1 meters, all riverbank access will be off-limits.
The floods have already affected train and metro lines in Paris. Officials are hoping that they can mop up the mess before next week, when the Euro 2016 soccer championships kick off. The month-long event is expected to attract some 2.5 million people.
State of natural disaster
France declared a state of natural disaster for the areas worst affected by the flooding, which allows the release of emergency funds to local authorities.
The floods have only exacerbated the country’s troubles as it tries to keep gas stations from running dry, cities powered and workers on the move amid strikes that have gone on for two weeks, crippling some essential services in parts of the country.
On Thursday, only a third of trains were running and British Airways said that some 10,000 British airline passengers had been grounded in recent days as air traffic controllers went on strike. Pilots have said they will join the action next week, threatening more chaos.
But many in France managed to find some humor in the situation. One Twitter user posted a mock Uber map, implying that the car hire service would need to provide boats to serve its customers around the Seine.
Another tweet showed a doctored picture of a Paris metro train, complete with paddles.
The-CNN-Wire ™ & © 2016 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved. (Photo: CNN)
