Question about Levees (New Orleans)?

Question

First of all, what exactly do levees do?

Second, I found this online:

http://www.safehaven.com/attachments/English%20Levees.jpg

why are England's levees so huge and what do those turbine looking things do?

Also, why can't the US make levees like England's?

Answer 1

The best levees (dikes) are in the Netherlands. These are (mostly) earthen dams built to hold back the North Sea from reclaimed farmland. However, they do not have hurricane surges to contend.

As far as New Orleans is concerned, only a pack of fools would build a city in a big hole next to the ocean and then expect everybody to feel sorry for them when it floods. They also expect somebody else to pay them to do it again and   we do. So who are the fools ?

Answer 2

The levees in New Orleans keep the water out of a large area that is below sea level or not very much above sea level. To do that, they don't need to be very high, but the total length is many miles. It is much more expensive to make a very long system of levees that is not very high compared to a short but much higher levee.

New Orleans is a good location for the port of access to the Mississippi river and the access to the interior of North America by river that that provides. The French thought it was a good place for a city in 1718 when the city was founded and the Mississippi provided the best access to the interior of the continent. Unfortunately, during the course of nearly 300 years since then, various decisions have left the city more vulnerable that it originally appeared to be.

Answer 3

levees keep the water from flooding the lower parts of the city. the US does not need levees as huge as englands, they just need strong and sturdy ones! dont know why they are so big, but im pretty sure the turbines pump water out