This relatively short article manages to set a new standard in "journalism".

State and local disaster preparedness officials are telling people to expect the best after New Year's Eve - but prepare, as Ms. Williams has done, for about a week or two of the worst.

Now it's "a week or two", not just "2-3 days"? By Friday, it should be "a month or two", I guess.

But don't panic or waste your money as you prepare, said Richard Taylor, acting manager of Dallas' office of emergency preparedness. Mr. Taylor - who has been coordinating the city's preparedness plan with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies for the last 18 months - said any disruption of basic services probably would be of the same magnitude as a bad ice storm.

A bad ice storm? How long does that take to get over? Ask the people in Montreal, some of whom took months to get over their ice storm, with immense quantities of help from the outside.

-- Steve Heller (stheller@koyote.com), December 26, 1999

Answers

Bad ice storm? verses winter storm? I'll e-mail my local meterologist and get back to you guys on how we shall now proceed...um..yeah...

-- Hokie (nn@va.com), December 26, 1999.

Take it from someone who has read the Dallas Morning News all her life...it is aLWAYS full of tripe like this!

No surprise.

-- preparing (preparing@home.com), December 26, 1999.

"...but prepare, as Ms. Williams has done, for about a week or two of the worst."

The worst? The worst? What the hell is the worst?

And why do statements like this not infuriate people? It pisses me off, & I'm already prepped. If I weren't, I might be looking to lynch someone.

-- but it's really too late (to@get.angry), December 26, 1999.

A two or three day storm can be pretty bad. Consider those souls that became dust at Nagaski and Hiroshima. How long was that storm?

-- Notforlong (Fsur439@aol.com), December 27, 1999.

Steve,

If little or nothing happens by Feb, will you be willing to admit you were not correct in your assessment of what was going to go wrong?

-- Cherri (sams@brigadoon.com), December 27, 1999.

What's the matter, Cherri? Getting nervous about something??

-- King of Spain (madrid@aol.cum), December 27, 1999.

If little or nothing happens by Feb, will you be willing to admit you were not correct in your assessment of what was going to go wrong?

Yes, as I've already said, if there are no serious problems evident by February 15th, I'll admit that I was wrong about Y2K.

-- Steve Heller (stheller@koyote.com), December 27, 1999.