Q. What is a levee?
A. The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) defines a levee as a “man-made structure, usually an earthen embankment, designed and constructed in accordance with sound engineering practices to contain, control, or divert the flow of water so as to provide protection from temporary flooding.” The terms dike and levee are sometimes used interchangeably. A few examples of levee systems in the Houston area are the USACE-constructed Texas City Hurricane Protection Structure, Freeport Hurricane Protection Structure, the Port Arthur Hurricane Protection Structure and the locally constructed levee systems in Fort Bend County.