We've seen the tragic consequences when our Bridges crumble and our levees fail.

我们已经看到，在我们的桥梁轰塌，大坝倾倒时我们所承担的悲剧性后果。

youdao

But the sight of soldiers linking arms as they struggled to close broken levees could not fail to inspire.

CNN: SPARKS IN THE DARKNESS

And we showed in very graphic terms how the water would top the levees and inundate the city, the way in which the pumps would fail because of the loss of power, and how the inundation would stay in the city because of its geography and geology.

NPR: Paper Slams Feds for Response to 'The Big One'