Every time I walk past the pit in Lower Manhattan, I feel a pit in my stomach. The physical destruction of September 11th, while massive, was still limited to a relatively small part of a large city. I can’t even begin to imagine what the residents of New Orleans are feeling, knowing that much of their city is lost. 80% of the city is underwater, and that water—filled with debris, raw sewage, industrial chemicals, and floating corpses—is still rising in many parts. Hurricane Katrina may have left one million people homeless, and those displaced from New Orleans may not be able to return for 3 to 4 months.

After September 11th, my strongest urge was to see the towers rebuilt, exactly as they were. No doubt, many New Orleans residents feel the same way about their city. Unfortunately, their city is a below-sea-level bowl built upon compacting sediment deposited centuries ago by the Mississippi River. And as that sediment packs down—about an inch every 33 months—the city sinks further below sea level. Even without a storm like Katrina, the long-term prognosis for New Orleans was not good.

Billions of dollars in insurance money, government relief, and donations from people here and abroad will now be pouring in to rebuild New Orleans. But as heartless as it may sound, we must question the wisdom of rebuilding New Orleans in its current location. Eventually, a rebuilt New Orleans will be hit by another storm, and until that happens, it will just continue sinking further below the sea.

Marvels of engineering have allowed man to triumph over nature many times before, but we should also pick our battles wisely. Simply put, in the 50-to-100-year long run, present day New Orleans most likely can’t be saved.

The urge to rebuild is understandable. I felt it after September 11th, when a relatively small portion of my city was knocked down. The folks who survived the near-total destruction of New Orleans need homes, and they deserve to see rebuilding done in their names. But should New Orleans be rebuilt where it is now? Unless the city is relocated, at some point in the future, we’re going to find ourselves in the exact same position as today.

There are some battles nature will always win. Let’s not compound today’s tragedy by guaranteeing a repeat in the future.