Hurah!!
It looks like the US State Department finally authorized Canadian aid last night (guess it'd be embarrassing if another country got people there first) - so as we speak Air Canada is flying down supplies (water and medicine) and the Canadian Red Cross, and ferrying people to points in the US (and Canada if authorized by the State Department - PEI and the Maritime provinces have offer to shelter 100000+ people) free of charge - also 3 Canadian Naval Ships and a Canadian Coast Guard ship are will be making full steam for the Gulf from Halifax to aid in rescue and relief operations along the coast with divers, engineers, medical personnell, and SARs; they just need to finish stocking up with material and equipment authorized by the US State Department (they are scheduled to leave port Tuesday morning, and should be in the Gulf by Thursday night at the latest).