We Britons grumble about our weather and Londoners get all in a tizz when the capital has a rare snow-fall that Northern England and Scotland would regard as nowt much; but we are thankful we do not suffer from hurricanes and our cyclones are very rarely at all damaging, and our thoughts are with everyone in the Caribbean and Southern US states hit by those storms.
I read somewhere that New Orleans was built on a slight rise above the surrounding land, but so much water has subsequently been extracted from below ground that it has subsided, increasing the risks of flooding.
I'm afraid the only safe answer is yes, build nothing within reach of the sea, even if the higher land is a mile inland. A sea-wall works as long as it's not over-topped, obviously, but you also have to consider any rivers crossing the area. If the sea rises or falls, the estuary level rises or falls with it.
A problem we have in parts of the UK is coastal retreat, where cliffs of soft rocks like clay are being eroded rapidly. One approach now becoming more common is to accept this, not try to fight it, because sea-defences are costly and cannot be guaranteed to work for more than 50 to 100 years or so. We also have areas prone to flooding by rivers, and when you look at the old towns there you realise they were all built if possible above the worst-remembered flood-levels: it's modern developments that suffer by being built on flood-plains!