Seine Flooding East of Notre-Dame Cathedral

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A couple of times a year, usually between January and May when heavy runoff or snowmelt occurs, the Seine River runs high above its normal level and changes in color from a lazy greenish blue to a silt-laden tan. This photograph was taken during such a period in late December, 1999, after rainstorms upstream had generated heavy runoff into the river.

Compare this photograph to my nearly identical photograph taken at a time when the Seine was running at its normal level. Notice that the park on the riverbank on the left is completely underwater, as are all the walkways running along the other banks of the river.

The river was about 4.3 metres above normal in this photograph, high even for high-water periods, although not as high as it had been the previous February. It was still rising slowly at the time this photo was taken. The record was set in 1910, when the water reached street level on the Île de la Cité, several metres above the level you see here.

Although it interferes with navigation (no excursion boats or barges can really move on the river when it is this high), these high-water periods do not otherwise cause a problem for the city to any extent. There are expressways and tunnels just a few metres above the normal water level, along the edge of the river, that must close when the river is this high, but that’s about it. Of course, all the quays are submerged at times like this, and the current runs dangerously fast for boats.

Photographed on December 29, 1999.