The Louvre - what happened and how it was protected

The Louvre as the flood waters rose last Friday

Today Musée du Louvre in Paris reopened following the Flood threat to Louvre and Musee d'Orsay.

We are so happy to see you again in the Louvre rooms. Enjoy your visit! pic.twitter.com/J8B0DnBpVV

— Musée du Louvre (@MuseeLouvre) 8 June 2016

as did the Musée d'Orsay - however some of its rooms remain temporarily closed

Le musée sera de nouveau ouvert mercredi 8 juin à 9h30. Certaines salles resteront provisoirement fermées #CrueSeine pic.twitter.com/ABWGrHOezf

— Musée d'Orsay (@MuseeOrsay) June 7, 2016

While looking at the Louvre Facebook Page I came across a video (in French) which explains the preparations they had in place for flooding and why the Flood Plan was activated last week.

Established in 2002 on the recommendation of the police department, the Louvre’s Flood Risk Prevention Plan consists in:

• setting up a Risk Prevention Emergency Response protocol
• daily monitoring of the Seine water level and its fluctuations by the Paris Fire Department
• special records made of all works that are to be moved to upper floors
• regular emergency drills with staff member involved in operations
• installation of systems to pump out and slow the spread of water
• plans for the relocation of the museum’s reserve collections to Liévin

According to this plan, the emergency response protocol is to be implemented when the level of the river reaches the 31 NGF mark (5.08 meters), and 72 hours before the water gets into the museum. As soon as this level was reached yesterday morning, the Louvre decided to close to the public in order to safeguarding the works exposed to flooding risk, which were moved to the upper floors.

You don't actually have to understand French to be able to get the gist of what they are saying and the precautions they already had in place in terms of pumping and physical barriers.

They were well and truly ready for what happened last week!

What the video also does do is give you some exceptional views of the Louvre in both the public areas and down in the basement.

If you've never been to the Louvre you might like to take a look and see what it's like!



This CNN video (below) provides a clearer perspective on what happened inside the Museum as they moved artifacts from the basement up to the ground flood for safety.



Crowds Are Out, Crates Are In as Louvre Takes Flood Precautions was the New York Times article written by one of the journalists who got inside the Louvre Museum to see what was happening as the Flood Plan swung into action.
Based on some of the comments in that article it struck me that if the Press Team have also got their role in the Flood Plan worked out - and they gave priority to the broadcast media to relay to people that everything is OK - one has to take comfort in the fact they've got everything worked out down to the last detail!