God help those that are less fortunate than us.

-- a (a@a.a), December 29, 1999

Answers

You should be aware that those are both WEATHER-related disasters.

-- Simpleminded (nope@wont.never), December 29, 1999.

What does it matter what the cause, if you are without power? From the beginning of my awareness, I've said that preparedness is preparedness. If you are prepared for Y2K, you are prepared for any emergency.

My Y2K preps have already saved me from weather related outaages more than once. I'll never be unprepared again.

www.y2kkitchen.com

-- Sally Strackbein (sally@y2kkitchen.com), December 29, 1999.

simpleminded,

(aptly named, eh?)

a disaster is a disaster, is a disaster.

I don't think the estimated 50,000 who died in Venezuela really were thinking that they were drowning from a flood, and not from y2k.

-- (4@5.6), December 29, 1999.

DBKR DPSHT, The point is that these two important countries find themselves in serious trouble right at the time when they're about to be hit by a- hole lot more trouble. Trouble compounds, you know.

-- number six (!@!.com), December 29, 1999.

oh, he's gone. ok by me.

-- no.6 @ the village (!@!.com), December 29, 1999.

On what basis was my post deleted ??

Profanity ?

Relevance ?

What ?

DBKR

-- DBKR (here@there.everywhere.com), December 29, 1999.

Sorry for interrupting your spin. You go on ahead.

-- Simpleminded (nope@wont.never), December 29, 1999.

My Y2K preps have already saved me from weather related outaages more than once. I'll never be unprepared again.

www.y2kkitchen.com

-- Sally Strackbein (sally@y2kkitchen.com), December 29, 1999.

Now you're talkin'! How do we go about convincing the rest of the doomers to do the same?

.......Alan.

The Providence Cooperative

http://www.providenceco-op.com

-- A.T. Hagan (athagan@netscape.net), December 29, 1999.

Look at the Y2K impacts of these two events.

Venezuala has had to expend efforts it may have had intended for Y2K preparation to recovery from the flooding. If they had cached any supplies as a hedge against Y2K problems, they've already had to use them to help the victims.

Last minute remediation efforts are sure to be impacted by the human factor of workers being lost or losingfamily members and not being at work. What about flood damage to stores of equipment needed to Y2K repairs or recovery?

And finally, what about other nations that depend upon Venezuala for its product: OIL? Certainly the US has serious concern over any cutoff of Venezualan oil but other nations in Cnetral and South America are even more dependent upon Venezuala than the US is. What has happened in Venezuala may have just spelled the deathknell for their economies due to energy shortages and price increases.

And in France the situation has larger implications. France is, or was, the most Y2K prepared nation on the continent. Now France is crippled days before the clock strikes midnight. As the Y2K leader, France should have been an "island of reserve" for recovery efforts to draw from. Now France looks like Quebec during the ice storm, without the ice.

What about the cross-border energy grid? Major power transmission lines are down all over the country. What about mutual aid support with neighboring countries? France is deep in an emergency operation right now, are there resources to spare? What about former French colonies who had agreements with France for support in Y2K problems? Will they be able to recieve that help now?

Will France be able to survive itself if there are additional failures heaped atop what the storms did? Twenty-five percent of the country without power. What will any transmission and distribution failures due to Y2K add to that. How much reserve and alternate routing capacity was lost with those toppled high voltage towers?

Y2K has always been a question of "WHAT IF's?". Right now we're seeing a lot more What If's added to the equation than many ever dreamed possible. One of the world's leading oil producers and one of the largest economies, a technological leader to boot, both struck severely before the Y2K event occurs.

Everybody's Y2K crystal balls were just spraypainted black by Mother Nature.

WW

-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), December 29, 1999.