Y2K A ãBUMP IN THE ROADä

Y2K A "BUMP IN THE ROAD"

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September 22, 1999 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org) - A special report in USA Today (September 22, 1999) warns of potential isolated glitches from the Y2K problem at the turn of the century, but concludes that overall it will be "a bump in the road" and "will cause more inconvenience than tragedy." People are encouraged to prepare for Y2K like they prepare for a storm--batteries, radio, candles, little extra food and water, etc. The report is based on a discussion with a panel of representatives from industry groups and on a study by the United States Senate. Following are excerpts. The complete report can be found at the USA Today web site (usatoday.com).

BANKS

"We have worked for the last five years in the banking industry on the ‘find it, fix it, text it’ programs. We have 10,300 banks in the United States. The federal regulators have gone in to take a look at and evaluate them. We’re proud to say, and very pleased to say, that today, 99.5% of America’s banks have been rated the highest possible rating by their federal regulators on their plan toward being prepared for Y2K. Eleven institutions in the country were rated unsatisfactory. … The good news is that the federal regulators and those particular banks have confirmed that by year-end, those banks will also be ready. … Will we see some glitches? Sure. But we’re talking about order of magnitude here" (Mike Griffin, president and COO of Statewide Savings Bank, Jersey City, NJ).

AIR TRAVEL

"The airports are in very good shape. We have a $16 million program at my organization, filled with a lot of very experienced people. We’ve actually been going to airports, been putting an awful lot of effort into this" (David Fuscus, Air Transport Association).

"Koskinen, the president’s Y2K czar, is so confident flying will be safe that he’s taking what he calls ‘this famous plane ride.’ The air traffic system goes into the year 2000 at Greenwich mean time, which will be 7 p.m. ET New Year’s Eve. He’ll be on the 6:30 p.m. shuttle from Washington, D.C., to New York, so at 7 p.m., he’ll be in the air."

ELECTRICITY

"[We have] 100% faith that the power grid is going to be okay" (John Koskinen, President’s Council on Year 2000 Conversion).

"I would love to find an example of a horror study, an embedded chip that had hit on Y2K rollover and, if it had failed to operate, would have resulted directly in electric power outage. We haven’t found one single one in over a year and a half of looking" (Ron Greenhaigh, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association).

DISTRIBUTION OF GOODS

"There is a sort of storm psychology, and we are trying to avoid that as much as possible. If you do it, you’ll be eating a lot of canned goods for many months to come because the stores are going to be open, there’s going to be food available. We’ve identified vulnerable categories, like water, canned foods, certain canned meats, and said OK, we need to have more of those available on hand. The stores have plans in place to make sure that certain categories are replenished pretty quickly, and they have special drops that they have planned in the event that something gets low and plans to deliver early if there’s a problem" (Carole Thorssel, Food Marketing Institute).

"There are absolutely zero plans to declare martial law and enter into any rationing of goods, sales, either way. We think ultimately, the free market will probably be the best way to deal with that…" (John Koskinen, President’s Council on Year 2000 Conversion).