Y2K - It's Real
Americans should prepare for
the millennium bug like they would a hurricane, by stocking up
on canned food and bottled water in case vital services are
cut off, senators leading a congressional study of the problem
said.
Global trade could also be disrupted because
major US trading partners, including Japan and oil producers
Venezuela and Saudi Arabia, may not be able to address the
computer glitch in time, said Senators Robert Bennett (R-Utah)
and Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut).
"This problem is real," Bennett,
chairman of the Senate's special committee on the so-called
Y2K problem, said in an appearance on CBS's Face the Nation.
"This will not be the end of the world as we know it. But
we have to stay on top of it."
The problem is that many existing computers
were not configured to recognize the year 2000. To save
expensive disk space, early programmers tracked dates with
only the last two numbers of the year. Thus, many will read
"00" as "1900," causing crashes or errors
come 1 January 2000.
Bennett and Dodd, who is vice chairman of
the Senate's Y2K committee, are expected to release their
report on the computer problem Tuesday.
According to a draft copy of the report, the
nation's airports started preparations too late, and shipments
of goods and services by sea could be disrupted because the
maritime industry is also running behind.
"It's not unwise for people to do a
little stockpiling," Dodd told NBC's Meet the Press.
He said people should buy bottled water,
canned goods, and other essentials as they might to prepare
for a "good storm, a hurricane" that would last two
to three days.
Dodd said people should also keep copies of
their financial records in case banks run into unforeseen
problems, although he stressed that banking problems were
unlikely.
There is no need for people to buy
electricity generators or stockpile propane, according to
Bennett, who said a prolonged nationwide blackout was
unlikely.
Most power grids will be fine, Bennett said,
"At worst, we're going to have some brownouts" in
rural areas.
He said he would be willing to fly on 1
January 2000 on a domestic, not overseas, flight but he had
heard that some insurance companies were refusing to insure
flights without assurances that the computers were going to
work.
"That becomes chicken and egg: No
insurance, they don't fly; they don't fly, they can't
prove," Bennett said. "We'll watch that one
carefully."
The committee's draft report said that, due
to limited resources and a lack of awareness, rural and
inner-city hospitals across the United States could be at high
risk. It said more than 90 percent of doctors' offices had yet
to address the problem.
The draft report concluded that more serious
problems could strike other countries, including some major US
trading partners far behind in Y2K readiness.
"Planes will not fall out of the sky,
but disruption of flights and global trade between some areas
and countries may occur," the draft report said.
The committee singled out major oil
producers Venezuela and Saudi Arabia for failing to prepare
for the computer glitch. Japan and Mexico are also at serious
risk, along with France, Germany, Brazil, Italy, and Spain,
according to the report.
Bennett and Dodd said the US nuclear arsenal
appeared to be safe, but the computer bug could cause weapons
systems in other countries to malfunction. Dodd said it is
critical that Russia, Pakistan, India, China, and other
nations work together on the problem.
Both senators said there was no way to tell
how serious the disruptions would be.
"When we get to New Year's Eve,
everybody, no matter how informed we think we are, is going to
be holding his breath," Bennett said.
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