The govt needs to have a one day contengency practice day drill on all nessary functions to support a small,medium and large size city before the end of the summer

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I feel that there is sufficent evidence available at this late date that y2k may entirely impair some cities ability to function safely. With this in mind it is the responsibility of our govt now to demonstrate to the public a comprehensive plan that partners community with Govt to be able to sufficently deal with this matter. The benfits of doing a well planned event while things are up and running (like an all day fire drill) will teach us what we will need to do to ensure a smooth operation in the event that this becomes needed on any of the upcoming y2k days and to instill a sense of confidence back in our Govt.

The object is to prevent public panic and promote a cool headed response to outages when they occur. Where our niegbors dont go balistic because they are not prepared or dont know what to do or how the authorities will operate. If a community wide plan is successfully demonstated in the next two months then issued as a formal y2k Govt response plan in the event that y2k causes shut downs it will go along way to ease peoples fears about the y2k and you will not have the fire panic at the end of the year that will surely come if open honest responsible govt figures dont lead on this serious issue.

The technology is not unfixable given the time, manpower and resources for a quick recovery, it's the lack of proactive leadership and management of the problem. John and jane Q public will be unmanageable if he and she is kept in the dark until the last quarter of the year .

Our govt must approach the matter of y2k this way that even though billions of dollars have been spent on fixing y2k there will be areas that will fail due to a lack of time and manpower to get to all essential equipment that needs fixing done. To minimise the risk to the public's safety We will do our best to ensure a continuity of community during this time frame(sept1999-March 2000). During this time that there may be some disruptions that may be possibly serious disruptions due to the complex nature of fixing the y2k bug fully. So inorder to mitigate the risks these disruptions will have Our nation adopt a formal y2k plan to be issued to every household via the nations newspapers and the internet. This plan will be a set of action plans that will inform and guide all our communities what and where essential resources will be available how they will be distributed,what will set this plan in motion when the plan will sunset. Who will direct the communities reponse teams, What special programs will be needed to be set up in advance to assist and identify our community members with special needs etc etc. With this type of leadership we will have a smooth transistion to the new millenium no matter what y2k throws at us, With out watch out it will be that bump in the road that crashes our nation the heading down the y2k road at 500 + miles an hour. No spam please

-- y2k aware mike (y2k aware mike@ conservation .com), June 08, 1999

Answers

Mike, you must like living on the edge.

Think for a moment. WHAT IF, next month (JULY) there was such a test, and it FAILED in a major way? What do you think the public reaction would be, with only a few months left?

No, the time for that was LAST YEAR. Oh, wait, the government was still "pooh poohing" Y2K back then... DOH! wait a minute, THEY *STILL* ARE...

No, if we'd had straight talk from the start, and MEANINGFUL tests of major systems, IN A TIMELY MANNER, I could see the public saying "okay, they muffed it, but we've still got time".

At this point it would be "oh my God, they muffed it, and we only have a few months! I've got to lay in supplies RIGHT NOW!"

Yup. Life on the edge...

-- Dennis (djolson@pressenter.com), June 08, 1999.


Where were you when the bomb went off in OKC? Didn't you see the well trained firefighters,police,nurses,Doctors,EMTs,and the countless other individuals? They took this situation that was totally out of control and through their EXTENSIVE training feel back on plans that they had practiced over and over. You don't need a formal "plan". Its already there. You just need faith in your local professionals to fall back on their training.

-- inthemiddle (inthemiddle84@hotmail.com), June 08, 1999.

Yeah but unlike the possible effects of y2k, the entire city of Oklahoma showed up at one building. I wonder how smoothly they would have functioned if there had been four bombings that same day on four different sides of the city. Or eight, or twenty?

-- (y2k go away @ come again . another day), June 08, 1999.

Inthemiddle traditional plans won't work they have left the public out of the loop. Y2k has the potential to be every where at once. No outside calvary to call on. Y2k will be a unique event. We need to have the so-called professionals come down from there ivory towers and draft up a parnership plan asap or there won't be alot of panic. just my opinion. This one wont be able to be managed like a normal disaster occuring only in one state. It may happen within a 24 hr time frame in every state in the nation and be very severe. While this possibility exist, a need for a new distaster response paridigm needs to be created to deal with the uniqueness of y2k using knowledge obtained from past successful disaster relief efforts and community participation in it's formulation. The public is getting progressively more spooked as they are finding out from the Geek vine that trouble is coming down the pike. Positive action and the right leadership will avert fear turning into chaos. The time to act was last year but all we have left is now.

-- y2k aware mike (y2k aware mike @ conservation .com), June 08, 1999.

y2k aware mike: calvary was the hill Jesus was crucified on... you mean cavalry.

-- curtis schalek (schale1@ibm.net), June 08, 1999.


You are NOT going to have all at once everything gone. At worst in the U.S. you will have the haves and the have nots. Not everything everywhere will be shutdown and not hope of recovery. People will not riot at the stroke of midnight. Everywhere there are people trained to handle situations that YOU never even imagine. Right now you have trust in these people and your local govt. to handle these situations or you would have already moved. The risk is small that is why you are unaware of the preperations already in place for any situation.

Before coming along with your "I have a better way" suggestions maybe you ought to join the Red Cross or become a volunteer Fireman.

As it is you have more trust in another motorist speeding at you on a two lane road than you do in you local Professionals (neighbors)>

-- inthemiddle (inthemiddle84@hotmail.com), June 08, 1999.


Hhmmm, the Red Cross and Fire Dept. Been there, done that, got training from both. Yes, training because they freely acknowledge that they alone cannot cope with even a 'normal' natural disaster, let alone Y2K.

y2k aware mike, you have an accurate understanding and very good ideas.
However, there's no stairs leading down from that ivory tower. It's going to be up to the villagers to fend for themselves, and when it is all over the ivory tower will have become a prison.

xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxx

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), June 08, 1999.


Ashton and Leska the people in your community are so fragile they cannot handle a 'normal'natural disaster. WHY DON'T YOU MOVE!!!!

Didn't you just post something about how to protect for chemical disasters? Was this info arrived at locally? Why does everyone assume/presume that everyone on their local level is an idiot? If you have a fire and you call 911 do you request only firefighters from a certain demographic group? No if you are like everyone else you say FIRE! HELP! and help is on the way. They put your fire out and you are thankful. THIS IS WHAT THEY ARE TRAINED FOR! You relied on their training and it worked.

How can you trust that car speeding toward you more than your neighbors? You know you are on a two lane road, its night, theres some headlights in the distance. Its a car speeding toward you. You trust it will stay on its side. But you never know.

-- inthemiddle (inthemiddle84@hotmail.com), June 08, 1999.


inthemiddle, your understanding has a glitch somewhere. Not sure how to help you.

The professionals at our local level fortunately are not as ivory-towered as some locales. They readily see that they alone cannot respond sufficiently to natural disasters. Guess it has enlightened their cognition that we have had several major natural disasters in a compressed time period.

Research of actual disasters and their aftermaths has shown that, statistically, at least 80% of all search and rescues are performed by citizen volunteers. Therefore, FEMA and Fire Depts, Red Cross, and various other agencies have formed training programs to teach the ordinary interested weeple how to safely prepare and deal with disasters, help others, and assist their local first responders.

Y2K will be a massive simultaneous systemic global unnatural disaster which will give rise to multiple incidents which become similar to natural disasters. Fires, floods, hazmat accidents, chemical spills, sewage backup, opportunistic civil unrest and bio+chemo terrorism, epidemics, the collapse of strands of the infrastructure, etc.
In the icy grip of Winter.

Our local leaders have shuddered at the implications and readied a beacon grassroots citizen activist plan that would do much good in getting the populace prepared. However, biz-as-usual second-guessing and fear-of-panic, fear-of-ridicule have stymied the initial momentum. The plans languish in anguished private meetings. Don't know if the leaders will have the courage to let the plans go public.

Yet they know and agree they can't quell the tide of misfortunes at the beginning of the New Year by themselves. What is fragile is their ego, turf, status, and that old rickety boat they don't want to rock.
But here comes the tsunami ...

xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx xxxx

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), June 08, 1999.


You never answered my question inthemiddle, how WOULD they function in a situation of mass frenzy. Just try and play along for a second and pretend you DON'T know everything, and that you have no pyschic insights to the future of how and when disasters will happen. My guess is they'd be spread bare ass thin and probably reeling from the shock that the people they are trying to save are ambushing them, (I.E: L.A. Riots)...hence the name "riot". And remember, no peeking at the crystal ball to see how things will turn out.

-- (workathome@atl.ga), June 08, 1999.


Ashton and Leska- Please don't get me wrong. I have read your numerous posts and feel your contribution is valued. When people act like there are no plans for disasters I have to disagree. There are people that this is all they do. For someone to come along and say "we need to come up with a plan" is not thought out. There are plans in exsistence and well trained people to carry them out. If someone is worried there won't be enough people then VOLUNTEER.

" Y2K will be a massive simultaneous systemic global unnatural disaster which will give rise to multiple incidents which become similar to natural disasters. Fires, floods, hazmat accidents, chemical spills, sewage backup, opportunistic civil unrest and bio+chemo terrorism, epidemics, the collapse of strands of the infrastructure, etc. In the icy grip of Winter."

This remains to be seen. I believe that one area may be hit hard and another may not. If your area is not won't you expect your locals to go to areas that are? I do and I will.

workathome- scrolling back I don't see where you posted your ? But here you go. Don't you think with the recent outbreak of tornadoes in Oklahoma the locals were stretched pretty thin? Did they come through? Yes- why because of their training. We have just entered Hurricane season, if one comes ashore,god forbid, watch how the emergency folks step up to the plate and take action. Remember the earthquake in San Francisco in 89? that seems to me to be ALL of your y2k worst case scenerio rolled into one.The people survived. Some died and I'm sorry for that. Most survived and are on the rebound today thanks to their local pros who stepped in and did their JOB.

-- inthemiddle (inthemiddle84@hotmail.com), June 08, 1999.


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