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French Insurers Meet to Assess Worst Floods in 30 Years

  • Expense may soar as high as 2 billion euros, one company says
  • As waters recede, finance minister sees no dent to economy
A man skateboards on the edge of a flooded road in western France on Sunday.

A man skateboards on the edge of a flooded road in western France on Sunday.

Photographer: Jean-Francois Monier/AFP via Getty Images
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Insurance executives meet with government officials in Paris Monday to assess the cost of flooding in the Centre and Ile-de-France regions as the Seine river recedes from its highest levels in more than three decades.

The river flowing through the French capital was 5.5 meters (18 feet) above its normal level at 6 p.m. Sunday after reaching at 6.10 meters at 2 a.m. on Saturday, according to Vigicrues, the French floods watchdog. Last week the Seine was near to the 6.18-meter mark reached in 1982, according to data from the Environment & Energy Ministry.