levee system
Engineered flood barriers
A levee system is an integrated network of embankments, floodwalls, gates, and drainage structures designed to protect an area from flooding.
Unlike a single levee, a system coordinates multiple components: The New Orleans levee system failed catastrophically during Hurricane Katrina.
These systems require continuous maintenance and monitoring, as a breach anywhere can compromise the whole.
- bermRaised strip alongside roads
- embankmentRaised earth structure
- dikeWall against flooding
- floodwallBarrier against rising water
- floodplainFlood-prone riverside lowland
revetment · civil engineering · New Orleans · drainage basin · water level · high water mark · rising waters · culvert · sedimentation · soil compaction · gabion · Army Corps of Engineers · Mississippi River · bayou · Hurricane Katrina · sluice gate · dredging · habitat fragmentation
- Pointe Coupee ParishLivonia, Lakeland, Oscar
- Mississippi DeltaClarksdale, Cleveland, Greenville, Greenwood, Indianola
- Gulf SouthNew Orleans, Louisiana Purchase, LSU, Mardi Gras, jazz
- California DeltaSacramento River, levees, sloughs, channels, islands
- Central Valley historySacramento, Stockton, Fresno, Modesto, Bakersfield
- hurricaneshurricane, tropical cyclone, Andrew, Katrina, eyewall