It's hard not to notice the increase in the frequency and intensity of episodes of rain which fall on Paris due to climate change. And the capital is not at the end of its troubles. According to the latest reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), these phenomena are set to increase in the years to come.
If only in the month of October, Paris suffered the passage of the Kirk storm (70 mm of water were recorded in twenty-four hours, a record unequaled since 1920), then, barely a week later, up to 35 mm in one hour poured onto the asphalt. The fall of a tree even killed a man in the 19th arrondissement.
Develop good reflexes
To best prepare its population for this inevitability, the municipality has imagined a “resilience” program for Paris in the face of risks (flood, pandemic, attack, cyberattack, heatwave, etc.) which will be voted on at the next Paris Council in mid-November. .
This plan of 50 concrete actions aims to “develop risk culture, that is to say knowledge of local risks and the reflexes to adopt in the event of a crisis, and to strengthen local mutual aid between Parisians”, explains Pénélope Komitès, deputy mayor in charge of innovation, attractiveness and resilience. For example, it provides for the implementation of a “very hot” plan to protect people on the streets during heatwaves and the creation of a “resilience campus”.
Concerning the flood risk, an exercise could take place in April 2025. “All Parisians will be invited to meetings in district town halls, with Internet access, to explain to them what behavior to expect from everyone in the event of a flood. “flood,” Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo (PS) told AFP.
The authorities “are ready, with plans and regular exercises on the Seine, but I would like us to be able to raise awareness among the general population of Paris, to give them the capacity for action by informing themselves and by training,” she added.
By explaining, for example, that in the event of flooding “you should not go down into your parking lot to take your car out, because that's where you are trapped”, while many underground car parks have been completely flooded at Valencia and its region in Spain, bereaved by historic floods.
In situ crisis exercise
An “in situ crisis exercise” simulating a flood of the Seine, in conjunction with the police headquarters, is planned, the town hall said. Parisians will also be made aware of measures to “improve the resilience of their homes”, while the municipality will carry out “experimental developments to reduce urban runoff”.
In the same vein, the City of Paris has adopted a “Parispluie” plan since 2018 to better manage rainwater and limit flooding by notably increasing their storage capacity with the construction of basins.
Another solution on which the municipality is already working: the de-waterproofing of the soil, by replacing the bitumen with earth and vegetation. The town hall has also put in place “rainstorm zoning” which should “be reinforced and simplified” in 2025. This map defines the spaces to be drained “according to the nature of the subsoil”.
