The nine feet turned into nine inches (it was a typo of ' as opposed to "), and then somebody said some measuring device in the middle of the lake said 4 feet, never verified. If it were nine feet, the whole city except for about ten blocks in a swath about one to two blocks wide right next to the river levees running along the river in a a few places, would be under water. I heard on TV one guy in the French quarter saying he was staying, because he owned a building 11 feet above sea level, which was just about the highest place in the city, and he lived on the third floor, and didn't want to abandon his pets, of which there were many. He must have a nice view of the levee from his pad. In addition, he said the building would survive the winds, because it was attached to other buildings, and with attached bulk comes strength. The guy may be nuts, but he was informed.
Engineer on WWL earlier today said that all the measuring sticks in Ponchatrain were broken. The lake is now about 5 feet above sea level. This equates to 8-12 feet deep in most of the bowl when it equalizes.