Just How Bad is the Flooding in Paris? Louvre Shuts Down to Protect World Famous and Precious Art

Paris’s Louvre museum has been closed so that its priceless artworks can be moved to safety amid the threat of flooding from the nearby River Seine.

Entries were halted on Thursday afternoon and, according to an internal memo sent to staff, the museum is expected to stay shut on Friday.

According to the Louvre’s website:

“Exceptional closure

Due to the level of the river Seine, the Musée du Louvre will be exceptionally closed to the public on June 3, 2016 to ensure the protection of the works located in flood zones. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.”

A video posted by Christine Valentino (@xtine__valentino) on Jun 2, 2016 at 1:51am PDT

A photo posted by Sam J (@callicles) on Jun 2, 2016 at 1:33am PDT

This is not the first time Paris has experienced flooding of this magnitude:

Paris is flooding. But this pic from the 1924 Seine flood cannot be topped. pic.twitter.com/pRQ4PuVQUz

— Helen Kennedy (@HelenKennedy) June 2, 2016

Paris submerged: The flood of 1910. via @MashableFR & @theretronaut pic.twitter.com/ru8tT1mDDX

— Jim Roberts (@nycjim) June 2, 2016