http://www.thehollandring.com/1953-ramp.shtml
"The Dutch struggle against the waters.
In February 1953 the Netherlands faced disaster when the dikes protecting the southwest of the country were breached by the joint onslaught of a hurricane-force northwesterly wind and exceptionally high spring tides. The flood came in the night without warning, a fateful combination of freak high tides and gale-force winds that killed 1,835 people. Almost 200,000 hectares of land was swamped, 3,000 homes and 300 farms destroyed, and 47,000 heads of cattle drowned. It was The Netherlands' worst disaster for 300 years.
Flooding caused by storm surges were nothing new to the Netherlands, but this time the nation was stunned by the extent of a disaster unparalleled for centuries."
The person who designed Amsterdam's pumping system way back when then worked on New Orleans' system (no doubt modified as time went on, but there is that connection....)
"In February 1953 the Netherlands faced disaster when the dikes protecting the southwest of the country were breached"
And they have developed incredible technologies since then.
They have massive breakwaters that float up and hinge when needed. I have to believe that we are reinventing the whel.