This is why I love Canada:

Canadians Arrived In New Orleans Five Days Before The U.S. Military

By D.L. McCracken
Sep 8, 2005, 12:03
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Louisiana state senator Walter Boasso is praising the rapid response of rescuers who arrived in New Orleans to assist in saving trapped residents as the waters from the corrupted levees began to rise the day after Katrina. The surprising aspect of the senator's praise was the fact that he wasn't referring to the United States military or FEMA. He was praising the Canadians.

The forty-six member Vancouver-based Urban Search and Rescue Team arrived in the St. Bernard Parish which lies east of New Orleans a full 5 days before American rescue units, and the volunteers worked 18-hour days rescuing 119 people in total.
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From andrewsullivan.