New Orleans and Rising Seas

The saints may have to march elsewhere soon.[1] A recent expert analysis concluded that New Orleans could be swallowed up by the Gulf of Mexico by 2100.

The city of New Orleans actually sits below sea level, but is kept dry by a series of levees, floodwalls, and floodgates. Unfortunately, the warming of the planet as a result of climate change is causing oceans to rise due to a combination of melting ice and the expansion of sea water as it warms. These rising seas threaten to eventually submerge low-lying islands and coastal areas such as New Orleans.

125,000 years ago, when the oceans were ten feet higher than they are today, the Gulf of Mexico extended about 30 miles north of where New Orleans is now, so if the oceans rise to that level again (which may be inevitable at this point) the city would be under water. But even now, 99% of New Orleans residents are at high risk for flooding.

The city’s situation is made more precarious by human destruction of the vast nearby wetlands that normally help protect against flooding from hurricanes and the storm surges they cause. (New Orleans has lost about 2,000 square miles of wetlands since the 1930s.)

In August 2005, New Orleans got a taste of what might be on the way when Hurricane Katrina’s rain and storm surge[2] overwhelmed the levees, flooding large portions of the city. Another storm like Katrina could flood the entire city.

Climate scientists now believe it is only a matter of time before the residents of New Orleans will have to relocate because their city will be constantly flooded and unlivable.

To learn more about what climate change is, how it is impacting our world, and how it might be fulfilling biblical prophecy, please read Chapter 11 of my book, Beyond Blind Faith, entitled “Apocalypse Soon.” You can read it in its entirety for free on this website. Just click here, or click on “Don’s Books” at the top of this page and scroll down to the “List of Contents” under my book, Beyond Blind Faith.

[1]. This blog entry is based in part on the following resources:

“Rising seas will swallow New Orleans. People need to start relocating now, scientists say,” by Laura Paddison, May 25, 2026, found at: https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/25/climate/new-orleans-sea-level-rise-relocation?utm_source=cnn_Five+Things+for+Tuesday%2C+May+26%2C+2026&utm_medium=email&bt_ee=QictSyj9QtFyZe1XGjvNd9jNtnVfd6B1YL39PowjrU%2BhXc3k3r3Ly%2BGjBI%2BtIc3v&bt_ts=1779791967733

“A Look Back in the Lower Mississippi Valley,” by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, found at: https://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/Missions/Mississippi-River-Flood-Control/Past-Floods-Lower-Mississippi/

“Levees, Floodwals, and Floodgates,” by Flood Protection Authority, found at: https://www.floodauthority.org/the-system/levees-floodwalls-and-floodgates/

“Climate Change: Global Sea Level,” by Rebecca Lindsey, August 22, 2023 (and reviewed by Rick Lumpkin, Greg Johnson, Phillip Thompson, and William Sweet), found at: https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-global-sea-level

[2]. Storm surge refers to the large volume of sea water that is pushed inland by a hurricane.