France

Portugal is battling wildfires both on the mainland and on the Atlantic island of Madeira pictured here.
Wildfires are a growing disaster hazard in many parts of the world. We can expect to see more of them as heatwaves and drought become more frequent and intense.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction
France enacted a major 11 day flood preparedness and response exercise in March, just over two months before it was hit by severe floods.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction
Staff at the iconic Louvre museum in Paris have been evacuating artworks from its storerooms as the French capital nervously monitors the rising waters of the River Seine (Photo:  Denis McLaughlin/Flickr)
Officials in Paris have closed two of the world’s most famous museums as the river Seine rose above its preliminary alert level of five metres yesterday evoking fears of a repeat of the catastrophic floods of 1910.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction - Regional Office for Europe & Central Asia
Flooding is the key natural hazard faced by France (Photo: Région Île-de-France)
The French government has unveiled a package of measures intended to raise public awareness of the threat posed by floods.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction - Regional Office for Europe & Central Asia
Firefighters in Thoiry show trainees how to craft a tourniquet from a necktie and a ballpoint pen, using fake blood to make the exercise more realistic (Photo: UNISDR)
Launched by France in the wake of the November 2015 Paris attacks, a nationwide programme has helped the public learn critical medical skills that can save lives in an emergency or a disaster.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction - Regional Office for Europe & Central Asia
Last line of flood defence: Ms. Sophie Lemonnier, architectural, museography and technical director of the Louvre Museum demonstrates the site's watertight doors (Photo: UNISDR).
Home to the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo and other priceless masterpieces, the world-famous Louvre Museum is all too aware of the need to fend off natural hazards.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction - Regional Office for Europe & Central Asia
The Damir Čemerin Award ceremony, held at the opening of the European Forum for Disaster Risk Reduction, brought together (from left) Ivo Goldstein, Ambassador of Croatia in France; Arnaud Brun of winning start-up TENEVIA; Edouard Le Goff of Kinaxia; Margareta Wahlström, head of UNISDR; Ségolène Royal, France’s Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy; Alix Roumagnac of Predict; and Jonathan Wertel of 3D Eau (Photo: MEDDE-MLETR/B. Suard)
A French start-up that uses image sensors to monitor water levels in order to head off the threat of flood has today won a pan-European award that recognizes innovative approaches to reducing disaster risk.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction - Regional Office for Europe & Central Asia
The sediment-heavy River Arve flows into the River Rhone in Geneva
The Swiss city of Geneva has been scrambling to stave off flooding as heavy rain pours down into mountain streams and swells rivers. Its success in meeting the crisis head-on underscores the importance of long-term planning to reduce disaster risk.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction
Building a flood-resistant embankment near Montpellier, in the south of France, to hold off rising waters.
Battered by repeated flooding for the best part of a decade, European governments have stepped up efforts to stem the economic and human impact.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction
<b>Faded memory: </b>A repeat of the 1910 floods in Paris would now affect up to 5 million people and cause up to Euros 30 billion of damage.
The French capital, Paris, has been invited to join the “Making Cities Resilient” Campaign by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction as a new OECD analysis reveals the extent of the city’s exposure to a repeat of a major flood disaster. The OECD Review on Flood Risk Management of the Seine River – commissioned by Etablissement Public Territorial de Bassin (EPTB) Seine Grands Lacs, with the Ministry of Ecology and Ile-de-France Regional Council – found that a repeat of the 1910 flood could affect up to five million residents and cause Euros 30 billion worth of damages. Speaking at the launch of the report, UNISDR Chief, Margareta Wahlström, said: “Making Paris resilient is an important strategic goal for France. Floods displace more people worldwide, create more unemployment and disrupt city life more than any other category of disaster.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction - Regional Office for Europe & Central Asia

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