Severe weather counters Olympic opening ceremony, flood warnings issued
The opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics is due to take place on Friday evening, but the weather has proved problematic, with flood warnings issued, a further blow to the games after arsonists attacked the rail network overnight.
The French weather office has issued a warning of rain and flooding in Paris, with the severe weather threatening to disrupt the opening ceremony scheduled for Friday evening.
On Friday, between 6pm and midnight, between 25mm and 30mm of rain is expected to fall, which is the average rainfall over 15 days.
Forecaster Patrick Marliere said the weather would be “a disaster” for those few hours. “We won’t be able to avoid it,” he added, referring to the forecasted downpours.
Incident on the railway
Paris has been grappling with difficulties for several days now, including image-related ones. On Friday afternoon, key high-speed rail installations in France were set on fire, halting train traffic and causing communication problems.
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said French law enforcement had been mobilized to “find and punish the perpetrators” of the incident, with some athletes even affected by the disruption.
It is not clear who is behind the attacks, which caused chaos among fans and tourists trying to get to the French capital for the start of the Olympics.
Not just weather and arson
As we have already reported, just before the start of the Olympic Games in Paris, residents of the city and tourists were shocked by an incident in the popular 18th arrondissement. A group of five men raped a woman from Australia there.
At around 5am, near the famous Moulin Rouge, a shaken Australian woman entered the Dounia bar. She was crying and her dress was torn and turned inside out. She explained that she had been raped.
The Paris police have launched a wide-ranging investigation. It is known that the 25-year-old was attacked by a group of men. She testified that “their appearance suggested that they could have been from Africa”. What is shocking in this case is that shortly after the incident, one of the perpetrators allegedly entered the bar where the woman was seeking shelter. The Paris police assured that they would “do everything to identify the suspects as soon as possible and bring them to justice”.
