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.
Examples of levee systems in the Houston area are the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-constructed Texas City and Vicinity Hurricane Protection System, Freeport and Vicinity Hurricane Protection System, the Port Arthur and Vicinity Hurricane Protection System and the locally constructed levee systems in Fort Bend County.