Rainstorms flood Paris metro, prompting station closures (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)

Heavy rains and violent thunderstorms have struck Paris, flooding more than a dozen metro stations. Photos and videos on social media show rivers flowing along the tracks and rare passengers making their way through the deluge.

The storms hit the City of Lights on Sunday evening, local media reported. The bad weather prompted authorities to close about 20 metro stations, including the Republique, Quai de la Rapee, and Saint-Michel stations in the heart of the capital, RTL TV reported.

The Paris transport authority, RATP, told FranceInfo that some stations were flooded.

The entire French capital was affected by thunderstorms, media said, adding that the 13th and 15th districts in the south of Paris, as well as the Seine-Saint-Denis department in the northeast, were the areas worst hit.

The Paris fire brigade has received some 1,700 calls since the beginning of the storm, said Paris fire brigade spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Yannis Destable, as cited by Le Figaro newspaper.

According to Meteo France, record rainfall was recorded in Paris on Sunday evening, with 49mm falling in one hour, the equivalent of three weeks of average precipitation in the capital in July. The previous record was seen in July of 1995.

RATP opened the stations early on Monday morning, but then the storms struck again.

As Paris residents tried to make it to work, they again faced floods in the metro stations. Photos and videos on social media show water in the metro and on the tracks.

With storms continuing on Monday, France’s national weather service Meteo France put at least 17 French departments, including the greater Paris region, on orange alert (level 3 on a scale of 4), French media reported.