PARIS, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Seine river which runs through Paris reached the peak level of 5.84 meters overnight, below 2016 flooding record. But it plunged the capital's venues and surrounding communes into chaos, the government-run vigicrues flooding agency said on Monday.
"In Paris, the peak is reached on Monday morning. The levels should remain stable for about 24 hours before receding very slowly from tomorrow Tuesday,"it added.
The return to normal level will take several days, according to the agency.
About 1,500 people in Ile-de-France region have been evacuated due to rising water level that submerged 240 communes in Paris and surrounding districts, police figures showed.
A non-stop rainfall caused flooding notably in the French capital where high water level flooded the river's walkways and forced the Louvre Mesume to close the lower level of the Department of Islamic Art to the public till Monday.
The rail operator SNCF decided to keep closed till Feb. 5 the RER C commuter line that runs along the river and is used by tourists to reach the Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame Cathedral and Versailles.
In 2016, torrential rains had triggered heavy flooding, plunging parts of France's central regions and Paris' venues into chaos where the Seine rose to 6.1 meters. Six people had been reported dead due to floods.
