PARIS — Torrential rains have caused major flooding in central and northeastern France this week, cutting power to about 20,000 homes and causing the evacuation of around 5,000 people, some on boats and kayaks. In Germany, heavy rains claimed the lives of nine people.
Officials in both countries were bracing for even more rainfall this week. The Loing River, a tributary of the Seine, has risen to levels not seen since 1910, and the Île-de-France region, which includes Paris, got more rainfall last month than in any May since 1960.
In Paris, the Seine River rose to 16 feet above its normal level, flooding the lower-level embankments and shutting down several roads but causing no significant damage. The level is still far from the record highs of 1910, however, when the river rose 26 feet above its regular position. Nonetheless, city authorities advised people to stay away from the banks of the river to avoid "unnecessary risks," and a section of the C line on the RER, a train system that serves the Paris region, was shut down as a preventive measure because it runs below ground along the Seine.
The rain also disrupted the French Open, where several tennis matches have been postponed.
More than 3,000 people were evacuated from Nemours, about 50 miles south of Paris, after the Loing overflowed and cut the city center in half, flooding businesses and homes. The surrounding Seine-et-Marne department was on high alert for floods on Thursday, and 12 other departments in the Île-de-France and Centre-Val de Loire regions were on the second-highest level of flood alert.
Traffic around Orléans, about 75 miles south of Paris, was completely blocked, and on Tuesday, 217 inmates had to be evacuated from a prison near Orléans. The Château de Chambord, a landmark castle in the Loire Valley, about 30 miles southwest of Orléans, was surrounded by water.
Speaking from the government's crisis center in Paris on Thursday, Prime Minister Manuel Valls told reporters that the situation was still "tense" and "difficult" in certain areas, including in the Seine-et-Marne and Essonne departments. He later said that the government would offer help to local authorities to deal with the crisis.
In Germany, the rains were deadly.
On Monday, in the southwestern state of Baden-Wurttemberg, two people, including a firefighter, were sucked into a drainpipe in the town of Schwabisch Gmund; a 62-year-old man was found dead in a flooded basement garage in Weissbach; and a 13-year-old girl, seeking shelter under a railway bridge, was struck by a train and killed in Schorndorf.
On Thursday, five people were found dead in the southern German state of Bavaria. They included three women from one family, in a home in the town of Simbach am Inn; a 75-year-old man in the same town; and an 80-year-old woman in the neighboring village of Julbach.
Three others were missing, and the death toll could rise, Michael Emmer, a spokesman for police in Lower Bavaria, told the German news agency DPA.
Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said the intensity of the flooding had taken officials by surprise. "Within a few minutes, the water level rose about several meters," he said.
Officials said they were preparing for additional storms and strong rains in western and southern Germany. At a news conference, Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed condolences to the families of the victims.
In the small village of Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, the Ahr River rose nearly 13 feet to a level that officials said was unprecedented. Several campers in the region sought refuge on the roofs of vehicles, and were rescued by helicopter.
In the Eifel mountain range, which is popular with tourists and hikers, strong flooding was also reported.
Aurelien Breeden reported from Paris, and Katarina Johannsen from Berlin. Victor Homola contributed reporting from Berlin.