The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December 22, 1999 - A5 City set to field phone inquiries THE CITY is preparing ta field a flood of ‘phone calls from locals with questions and concerns on the YZK weekend. Phone calls to the city switchboard at 635-6311 or the after hours emergency number will go to the fire department. Fire chief Randy Smith says they'll try to solve problems and give callers as much information as they can on any re- ported Y2K incidents here, around: the provinee or in the rest of the country. IF demand is too much for fire dis- patchers to handle, ‘the city will bring in extra staff, he added. The city will-be getting: asteady: flow’ of reports on what happens elsewhere, he said. They’ ll also put that information up on the city’s Y2K web page as if comes in. The page is accessed through the Terrace Emergency Program portion of the city web site, at www.city.terrace.be.ca. All that assumes computers and.at the very least telephones continue lo Func- tion, of course. A READY EAR: Terrace firefighter Lieutenant Fred Euverman (ieft) and other fire department dispatchers — and city staff if necessary — will be raady to handle any phone cails to the city concerned about Y2K effects during the hours that city hall would CANNED GOODS, other | non nerishables, candles and batteries should top the list for supplies to have on hand for Dec.31st. What to have and what to do ’ THERE'S NO-need torhead:far the cabin inthe: woods (aU He wart keens flowing, Loflgts adi and barricade: “yourself tk there with stockpiles’ of: food and :- ammunition. - ; vyen hakts tety - But at the same time iit is s possible to be underpre- pared for problems that may happen. Here’s a checklist of some precautions that are rela- tively simple and can help ensure you’re relaxed and confident going into the new millennium. M@ Food: Keep at least a three day supply of food and water per person, preferably supplies that don’t require reftigeration or even cooking. Good bets include canned food and soup, canned milk, bottled juice, fresh fruit and vegetables, dried fruit and nuts, cereals, bread, cheese and crackers. Ensure you’ve got a hand-operated can opener for canned items. @ Animals: Don’t forget your pets need to eat, WM Water: Dig out water containers you'd use for camping and fill them up. If you don’t have large water jugs fill the bath tub the night of the 31st. @ Light: Prepare a supply of flashlights, batteries, candles and waterproof matches. Make sure you know where it is and can find it in the dark. M@ Emergency kits: Make sure your first aid-kit is well stocked, Take time to check your household smoke alarms and fire extinguishers, Gas: Fill your tank before the 31st. Keep at least half a tank of gas in your vehicle throughout December and January. If you’ve got portable gas cans, make sure they’re full. @ Cooking fuel: If you own a gas barbecue or a camp stove, make sure you’ve got full tanks of propane or camp fuel. Make sure portable sloves are in working order, and don’t use them indoors. @ Medicine: Check your medicine cabainet and make sure prescriptions are renewed, but don’t over- stock. .H Money: Take out extra cash in small denomina- tions — what you would spend over the course of three days to a week depending on your comfort level. With- draw it early so you don’t intensify last-minute demand at ATMs. B Documents: Make sure you have copies of import- ant papers, including identification, personal contacts and house insurance. If there are important lists you keep only on your computer, print a paper copy. B Finances: Keep copies of current statements for bank, pension and investment accounts as well as utility bills and credit card statements. Hold onto them through the first few months of 2000 and double check to ensure nothing goes wrong with the balances. Keep paper records of any important business or financial transac- tions. If you're not very organized with this paperwork normally make an extra effort to do so for these few months. M@ Your computer: Back up important files on your computer, Even if you’ve made sure it won’t be affected by the Y2K changeover, no one knows for sure whal computer viruses may be circulating that could take ef- fect when the clock ticks over. WM Family: Think about how you will communicate with dependent famity and friends should phone systems fail or be overwhelmed by demand. If you have ailing parents who live far away, you might plan to have a neighbour there check in on them should you be unable to call. Make sure loved ones know when and how you plan to contact-them after the millennium. @ Neighbours: Take a break-from shovelling snow to talk ¢o your neighbours and compare notes on prepared- ness, Knowing what's available - and who’s got a wood- stove; gas barbecue or generator handy in case of emer- gency — will reassure everyone in your neighbourhood. normally be closed. Ready or not, here it comes Year 2000 uncertainty now focuses more on people than equipment CITY OFFICIALS are virtually certain nolhing catastrophic will happen with basic services here because of the Year 2000 comput- er problem. They're fairly confident utili- ties that provide electricity, natu- ral gas and phone service have the millennium bug under contral. And they’re. dead certain that — no matter what happens elsewhere ~ the cily will be able to make and. “enigrgency, Services are ‘aninigirupted. ila “Hey, we're the ‘notth,” fire chief Randy Smith. - “We should be able to. deal ‘locally with just about. anything Y2K throws al us.” “I think it’s a tempest in a teapot,” adds city engineering di- rector Stew ‘Christensen, who along with other cily officials will be on standby that night in case of emergency: As with many businesses and utilities, the city believes its sys- tems are ready but cannot guaran- lee all its suppliers are ready and won't be affected by the computer problems. Backup power The city has a diesel generator on standby at the Skeena River that will be able to pump water in the event of a B.C. Hydro power failure knocking out the main city pump house. The city would also likely tap Deep Creek, which is gravily fed and can provide water to the city. tegardless of electrical failures, ‘There’s also a standby genera- tor at the sewage treatment plant: to ensure the sewer systern con- tinues to work if the entire city flushes toilets just after midnight. Another generator is’ mobile and can be moved around the city to operate sewer lift stations peri- odically as required. The fire department’s radios, pagers and equipment are all op- nn W nite Ita Says ON ALERT FOR Y2K & Stories by Jeff Nagel and Christiana Wiens yb Ves eat Arated on balteries that can be re- arged. otf penerators. It's good practice ‘Even if nothing happens after the year 1999 turns to 2000 in computers world wide, Smith says it’s still good to be ready, “Being prepared starts right at the personal. level,”. says Smith, who’s an advocate of disaster pre- paredness year-round. “We're just as prone to having major snowstorms, ice storms, We could have an earthquake. It floods here from time to time,” Smith says. “Y2ZK is a reason to be prepared. It’s ‘not the only reason,” Smith said. ‘People ‘should have already slocked up on supplies. “You should have your stuff in the cupboard now,” he says. “Don’t wait until the last minute.” Y2K arrives later The Pacific coast is in a fortu- nate position because of its later time zone. Most of the world will feel the Y2K effect hours before B.C. does. That should. give emergency personnel here fair warning if problems are likely to occur, “By noon we should know what’s happening in Asia,” Chris- tensen noted, “By date afternoon we're going to know if they had troubles in Europe.” “We've pot almost the whole day to find out what’s going on and what might affect us.” a If electrical failures are going to happen in North America, we'll likely know about it by 9:00 p.m. - when clocks strike midnight on the eastern seaboard of the U.S. That’s the time B.C, Hydro will be prepared to isolate BC, if it appears the entire continental power grid is about to be affected. “We've been told that B.C. Hydre could cut us off from the rest of the grid at that Point,” ” Christensen said. : Hackers and hooligans ~ Considerable trouble worldwide is expected to be deliberately generated by hooligans and com- puter hackers. ' “[ think mischief is going to be the biggest issuc,” Smith says. “Where they're going to strike is difficult to predict.” Because povernments and companies have largely declared the Y2K software problem fixed, hackers may be tempted to try to prove the authorities wrong. “What a challenge for the hackers of the world,” Smith says. “The gauntlet has been thrown down.” Police are also’ preparing to handle everything from ricting crowds to doomsday cults. Ordinary thieves may afso try to take advantage of the fear and confusion of the night, and the possibility of malfunctioning se- curity systems. Practical jokers may. also help create panic, “The jokesters of the crowd will be greatly tempted to flick the light switch off in a crowded room at the stroke of midnight,” Smith says. Larger centres will be more susceptible because of con- centrated population and large gatherings of people. ' Knocking oul all traffic lights in Toronto would be much more serious than knocking out all traf- fic lights in Terrace, Smith notes, The rest of us Officials preparing. for YZK think some of the bigger problems ~ rather than actual computer or system failures — may stem from the actions of ordinary people. When thousands or millions of law abiding citizens try to do the same thing at the same time, ex- pect trouble, “At midnight don't pick up the phone to see if there’s still a dial tone,” Smith says... ., Everyone rushing put to stock up ‘on food or take money out of bank machines on the 31st could also cause shortages that wouldn't happen otherwise. “The biggest fear now is the people one,” says Smith, who urges people to get ready sooner. Delayed effects If the power and phones are suill on at 12:01 on Jan. 1, your major appliances still work and the world’s nuclear arsenals ha- ven't decided to launch, there’s no problem. Right? Wrong. Even if there’s no immediate trouble, delayed effects of Y2K are expected to surface for days, weeks and even months alter the critical date. ‘Electronic gadgetry in homes, businesses and industry that’s not used continuously may only prove faulty the next time someone tries to use it, Producers in countries overseas that are less prepared for Y2K could experience production or transportation disruptions. That might not translate into shortages in certain products here for a few weeks, “Right after midnight we may notice nothing different,” Smith says. “Next morning we might not notice anything different,” “Realistically the impact this will have on business is long- term.” Extra police hit streets for eve of the new millennium NINE DAYS are left before the new millannium ar- ives and Cpl Rod Holland and other Terrace RCMP members will be on alert. MILLENNIUM chaos or not, Terrace’s entire RCMP detachment will be stand- ing by just in case. A Canada-wide leave restriction order- ing RCMP officers to stay in town from Dec. 29 to Jan. 14 allows RCMP Inspee- tor. Doig Wheler to almost double the number of officers on duty for Y2K. Along with four regularly scheduled six-person watches on duty Dec. 31 and ’ Jan. 1, starting at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m, gener- al duty officers will be assisted by four highway patrol officers and the dog han- dler bringing the total number of officers on duty at any time to 11. In addilion, said Wheler, the detach- ment will have help from focal RCMP auxiliaries, “We're not anticipating anything lo go wrong,” he said. “All our systems and the city system has been checked out.” If anything, said Wheler, he expects his officers to be cruising the streets in search of partics and partiers that have gotten out of hand, “We may have some lenience,” said Wheler, when it comes to louder than ‘lormal partics; “But that depends on the lumber of noise complaints.” Officers will use discretion, but if the noise persists beyond initial warnings, of- ficers will follow the city bylaw and start handing out tickets - whether it's the start of a new millennium or not. And most of his officers have gotten used to the idea of spending New Year’s on the job even though they won’t be paid extra for being there. Wheler said most shifts will be jugeled or rescheduled to avoid paying unnecce- sary overtime, But it’s not an idea Terrace’ 8 top cop is wilting to embrace himself. “I'm not working on New Year's,” tie said laughing, “I'll be on call if they need me,-but | won’t be here.”