At least one homeless camp had already been evacuated this Wednesday morning in Paris.
While the level of the Seine exceeded the 4 m mark - 4.03 m precisely - on Tuesday evening, and had been rising for five days, the Paris police prefect Laurent Nuñez drafted a decree in order to immediately evacuate the tents installed along the Parisian waterway.
“According to the Vigicrues newsletter, the level of the Seine in Paris has been rising since Saturday evening.
This increase, a consequence of the arrival of flood waves propagating upstream of Paris, will continue with a maximum to be observed this Wednesday,” underlines the police headquarters in its document made public this Wednesday afternoon.
The lives of the occupants threatened
The police institution mentions possible “rapid rises in water and/or the first localized overflows” the consequence of which is the placement on yellow alert of the section of the Seine in Paris, “a level which is characterized by risks of overflows and localized damage or rapid and dangerous rise in water levels.”
The river has notably left its bed near the Alexandre-III bridge.
The Paris police headquarters has just issued an expulsion order for all the quays of the Seine within the walls.
This concerns nearly 400 people.
The pre-Olympic manhunt has begun.
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— Utopia 56 (@Utopia_56) March 6, 2024
In fact, “tents are directly threatened by the current rising water levels and the lives of the occupants of these camps, estimated at around 420 people by the social emergencies mission of the City of Paris, are in danger,” observes the police headquarters, which is therefore implementing this measure relating to the immediate evacuation of these camps installed irregularly on the banks of the Seine.
“A pre-Olympic manhunt has begun,” says the humanitarian association Utopia56.
And to condemn: “No fallback solution is offered to them.
Wherever they go, police will come and dislodge them.
» This Wednesday morning, their belongings wet, homeless people were forced to move their camp to a nearby bus lane.
The deputy at the town hall in charge of solidarity and emergency accommodation, Léa Filoche, had requested this Wednesday morning “rapid emergency shelter for people who live on the quays”.