Rivers Continue to Swell in France

PARIS (AP) -- Rivers across France kept swelling on Wednesday despite some improvement in the weather, disrupting train services in Paris as soldiers got ready to intervene in a suburb close to the capital.

Meteo France, the national weather agency, said 23 departments remained on orange alert, the second highest level of vigilance, urging people to limit their movement and to stay vigilant.

The weather picked up in large parts of the country, but more rain is expected on Thursday.

In the southeastern Paris suburb of Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, which is crossed by both the Seine and its Yerres tributary, local mayor Sylvie Altman said soldiers will be deployed to help evacuate the population. Police forces and fire brigades were already on site, patrolling flooded streets on small boats.

Altman told France Info radio that water levels were expected to keep rising until Friday.

"We should get military trucks to help us evacuate and make people move along," she said.

West of Paris, the Seine River burst its banks in some spots and spread to almost twice its usual breadth between the towns of Saint-Germain-en-Laye and Le Pecq. The area is well downstream from Paris.

Forecasters said Wednesday that the Seine levels should keep rising until the weekend. The river is expected to reach a peak last reached in June 2016, when authorities were forced to close several Parisian monuments including the Louvre museum.

Roads along the shores of the Seine remained closed on Wednesday as well as seven train stations alongside the river.

(KA)