Report Gives Eerie ‘Point of No Return’ Evacuation Warning to New Orleans

Experts are calling for prompt evacuation planning from the city of New Orleans after a new report found sea levels have reached a “point of no return.” While this wouldn’t be the first time New Orleans has been hit with the harsh realities of climate change, now eyes are on the predominantly Black city’s leadership to see if they’ll repeat the same mistakes from Hurricane Katrina.

A study published by the Nature Sustainability journal shows that ongoing sea-level rises, coupled with the erosion of wetlands in southern Louisiana, will consume the New Orleans area in the next few generations. While the new report serves as a warning to state and city officials, in truth, flooding has long plagued New Orleans.

The city has fallen below sea levels consistent for the last 50 to 100 years, according to Open Rivers Digital Journal. Trouble first arose following years of failed infrastructure and an overall lack of funding, which can be traced back to the 1950s. That’s when public housing was constructed for Black families below sea level in an effort to contain their populations and separate them from white communities throughout the rest of Louisiana.

These issues came to a head in 2005 when one of the deadliest hurricanes in American history, Hurricane Katrina, devastated the area, we previously reported. Billions of dollars in funding were sent to fix the broken levee system in New Orleans, which caused widespread flooding in the wake of Katrina. But over 20 years have passed, and other infrastructure problems still contribute to flood zones and recent “extreme” drought, as described by the U.S. Drought Monitor.

The Nature Sustainability report called the New Orleans coast “the most physically vulnerable coastal zone in the world,” and given the city’s majority Black population– sitting around 56 percent— folks are urging the government to step in and assist with evacuations.

“While climate mitigation should remain the first step to prevent the worst outcomes, coastal Louisiana has evidently already crossed the point of no return,” the paper said. The authors emphasized that the problem in the city comes down to more than just infrastructure.

“In paleo-climate terms, New Orleans is gone; the question is how long it has,” said author Jesse Keenan. “Even if you stopped climate change today, New Orleans’s days are still numbered,” he continued, according to the Guardian. “It will be surrounded by open water, and you can’t keep an island situated below sea level afloat. No amount of money can do that.”

Now, New Orleans and other susceptible parts of the U.S. are prepping for yet another hurricane season, which begins on Jun. 1 and ends on Nov. 30. The city’s emergency fund balance is currently around $35 million, well below the $165 million experts say is necessary to serve and protect residents. Mayor Helena Moreno’s office has proposed a $100 million increase to the fund by relying on a new contract with Caesars Casino, WWLTV reported.

“Ultimately, we do need this huge amount of money coming in upfront to help us build our reserves, which are, of course, a major part of getting us out of the fiscal crisis by 2027,” Moreno said. “I do not want to go into hurricane season, we’re a month away from hurricane season, without having these reserve emergency dollars in place.”