The Great Flood of Paris

A hundred years ago this month, following months of heavy rain, the Seine burst its banks and flooded Paris.

It became known as the Great Flood of Paris: On January 28, the water reached its maximum height at 8.62 meters (28.28 feet), about 20 feet above its normal level.

I didn’t know about this Great Flood of a century ago until I glanced at the freesheet “20 Minutes” yesterday. The newspaper warned that despite flood barriers and other measures Paris faces flooding every year.

And if the waters rose as in 1910 it would be “une nouvelle catastrophe”.

In 1910 Paris was brought to a standstill as the overflowing Seine surged through the city: electricity was cut, the métro was flooded, public buildings and schools closed.

Hospitals moved their patients to the higher floors but l’hôpital Boucicaut, where my two children were born, was a one-stage affair and so was evacuated.

More than 20,000 cellars were flooded, 1,000 buildings evacuated and 40 kilometers of roads affected. There was only one recorded death. A fireman was swept away by the current while doing his job.


Paris had experienced only one worst flood – in 1658 when the waters reached a record 8.81 meters.

Will modern-day Paris cope with another Great Flood? I can imagine authorities being caught out by heavy flooding, like the recent heavy snowfall, and spluttering in explanation that “fluffy water” was to blame.