ABC News:
Half of the Netherlands sits below sea level, so the tragedy in New Orleans hits home with the Dutch.
They have been through it themselves: In 1953, a huge flood in the Netherlands killed nearly 2,000 people and left 70,000 homeless.
...The flood led to dramatic changes. The Netherlands spent $8 billion over 30 years fortifying the coastline with a sophisticated system of dikes, dams and levees.
Dutch law now requires that coastal defenses protect against the worst storm imaginable.
Ted Sluiter, a spokesman for Waterland Neeltje Jans, a recreational park and information center set up at the base of a major dam, said the hydraulic sea wall that is considered the crown jewel of the system would protect the country against all but a biblical flood. The dam is constructed in a way that protects the region's wetlands, environmentally-sensitive areas that serve as natural storm buffers.
"Without those, Holland will just disappear," Sluiter said. "So, it has to be a Dutch discipline, hydraulic engineering."
The hydraulic sea wall is 130 feet high and nearly six miles long. It's basically a giant steel curtain that can be opened or closed, depending on the water level. One dam alone took more than a decade to build.
Down the North Sea coast, there's a giant door that can seal off shipping lanes in an emergency. Each arm is as long as the Eiffel Tower and twice as heavy. A computer is programmed to close the door as soon as the water rises 6 feet.
The Dutch system is at least 50 times stronger than the coastal defenses surrounding New Orleans.
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