What is Y2K?

THE MILLENIUM bug isn’t nesting behind your couch.

"It isn’t laying eggs in your broom closet, either. The “bug’* is s computer problem that arises when some

“Computer clocks go from the year 1999 to the year 2000.

The millenium bug, or Y2K, occurs when a computer chip doesn’t know what year itis.

Since the ’60s, most PC-based computers have expressed dates as a six-digit field, for example, a computer sees M arch 24, 1999 as 03/24/99, .

~The problem is, computers will read March 24, 2000 as 03/24/00. Many computers won’t be able to distinguish be- _ bween the year 1900 and 2000.

Therefore, they won’t be able put dates in a historical context, and may become confused, fail to function or mis« calculate information,

The worry is that if the Y2K bug isn’t dealt with before the new year, critical infrastructures like stoplights and Sewage systems may fail, personnel and academic records could be invalidated, Securily systems could malfunction, and billing systems may miscalculate information,

eat Se

DAVE MARONEY of Terrace Equipment Sales says smaller size generators like this one are still avail- able, but the big ones needed to power a whole house or business are hard to find,

Generator sales peak

MILLENNIUM bug fever has already hit some Terrace Tesidents, ;

Dave Maroney, owner of Terrace Equipment Sales, said the demand for generators has been growing since last September. ot Bete,

i We've always. had. them in, stock. until last .fall,’? .he..., said. He explained that after the ice storms in Quebec last: winter, people here wanted to make sure they had their own generator.

The fear of the millennium bug, has only increased demand, Maroney said, ,

He has 24 people on a waiting list for 3500-watt and 5000-watt generators, ones large enough to power a house.

“There looking for back-up power,”’ Maroney said,

He said he’s got a large order in for $2,000 generators, but demand is so great, there’s a backlog. ‘'They got be- hind a year ago and they haven’t caught up,’’ he said.

He said he only gets a few in at a time because distrib- utors are trying to keep all the dealers happy.

Personally, Maroney’s not worried about the millennium.

‘He’s not planning on buying a generator but he did say he’l] have a bigger pile of wood prepared for the new year.

No leave for RCMP

TERRACE RCMP Sgt. Darcy Gollan said in preparation for year 2000, officers won’t be allowed to take time off from Dec, 31 to April 1, 1999.

All officers will be on duty during this period, Gollan said, to deal with any unforeseen incidents.

“You have to have reserves available in the event that things do go wrong,”* Gollan said.

In 8 worse case scenario, power, water, and all other computerized systems would shul down.

Gollan said RCMP have to be prepared to deal with any- thing that could arise from the potential global shutdown.

“It’s something we have to plan for because there are people out there that will take advantage of fear,” he said.

Terrace RCMP are currently working with other agencies in town, like the fire hall, the ambulance and the city, to make sure everyone is coordinated should the power go off for a prolonged period of time.

Gollan said RCMP have already tested the detachment’s emergency generator. RCMP are also making sure there is enough water and food in reserve in case Terrace is cut off for days. ,

Banks not worried

BANKS in town are expecting business as usual leading up to the millennium,

Jim Stewart, customer service manager at Royal Bank, said he’s heard rumours of people in Vancouver who plan on withdrawing all of their money before the year ends.

But in Terrace, he said people aren’t as paranoid.

He’s not expecting local residents to withdraw their life savings.

“However, there’s always going to be people a few people who take precautions,’’ Stewart said.

Since financial institutions don’t have much cash on hand anymore, Stewart said banks would issue bank drafts or moncy orders in lieu of cash to customers wanting to withdraw all their money.

Personally, he’s not going to take out any extra money come the new year, .

He said he doesn’t have any concerns about the baking industry going haywire.

Corrine Thompson, customer service manager alt TD Bank, said she expects Jan 1, 2000 to be like any other day.

We know the problem isn’t going to be a problem,” she said,

She has complete faith in banking technology.

“We have all of our information backed up daily, so it’s not like we’re gaing to-lose information if something does happen,” Thompson said, She hasn’t had any inquiries from people concerned about withdrawing funds.

The ultimate exercise

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 31, 1999 - AS

Terrace’s emergency coordinator hopes Year 2000 bug fears will

make us better prepared for disasters that are harder to

By JEFF NAGEL

WHILE SOME people beef up their computers, stockpile food and prepare to barricade their homes against invaders on the eve of the millennium, one Terrace man is actually looking forward to Y2K.

Randy Smith isn’t out to sell computer software or genera- tors.

Tertace’s fire chief and emer- gency coordinator is selling safety and if computer bug hysteria presents an opportunity to preach that message, that’s fine with him.

“‘] think this is great,’’ Smith says. “‘Il’s an emergency preparedness coordinator’s dream come true. People are look at their contingency plans and posing the question: ‘What if?* ‘3

While Y2K poses real — though many expect over-hyped — risks, it is also entirely predictable.

; People know exactly when it’s |

going to happen.’ And that makes it the ultimate ex- etcise,

“T don’t think the sky’s going to .

fall, but people should be

prepared,’’ Smith says.

The most likely potential disaster from the Year 2000 bug is a loss of electricity.

That’s also a mishap that could happen anytime to the north.

“We could have an ice storm or a snow storm that could cause that,’ Smith notes,

Other possible disasters — which would come when we least expect

What should average citizens do to ensure they’re prepared?

Smith says everyone should al- ways be prepared to survive in their homes without outside help for a period of 72 hours until emergency crews can arrive.

That means having extra canned goods and dry goods socked away ai home, maybe extra water, and a buffer of extra cash in case bank

“| think this is great. It’s an emergency preparedness coordinator’s dream come true.”

them — are a train derailment or dangerous poods spill, an earthquake, or floading,

So Smith is putting emergency plans into action, setting up opera- lions centres, testing lines of com- munication and ensuring teams of volunteers and coordinating agen- cies are ready to go,

city operations run smoothly, and the other coordinating emezgency services, RCMP, the airport, the hospital and Terraceview Lodge.

machines don’t work,

Smith also wants to get a neigh- bourhood preparedness program going.

That would encourage people to find out’ about the needs and resources of others on their street.

A home of seniors who need as- sistance would mean a neighbour

He’s also active on‘two different -;Would take-extra care to make sure

‘¥2K committees — ‘one’ ensuring they’re’okay.in an cihergency.

Or the neighbour with a generator or wood stove would make sure others on the street knew they could come by and get warm in 2

predict

protracted emergency situation,

Even if the power docs go out, Smith says the outage would likely be a couple of hours or at most a couple of days, .

‘We're optimistic that B.C, Hydro is going to be able to deal with it,” he says.

A ire doomsday scenario — a two-week power oulage — would eventually sec things like elderly patients moved from Terraceview Lodge to Mills Memorial Hospital, which can run on iis emergency generators,

In that situation, churches, school gyms and the like can be opened up if people need to be evacuated from their homes.

What will Smith and his family do differently?

He says they’re going to buy more camping food than they’ ll ac- tually use this summer and kcep the extra at home through the winter,

They’re also stockpiling a couple weeks worth of canned goods in the pantry by buying a few extra cans on each trip to the grocery store.

Smith hopes that by: January 2000, nothing dire will have hap- pened, and the cily will have emerged much better prepared.

“This will be a benefit to the city for years to come,’’ he said.

City of Terrace working to keep water flowing

YOU WILL still have running water and toilets that Oush afler midnight on Jan. 1 2000.

That’s the sdlemn pledge of a group of City of Terrace staff members who have been working for several months already to bullet-proof city systems from the Year 2000 computer bug.

While 75 per cent of city systems are probably now Year 2000-ready, there is mare work to be done.

Deputy treasurer Judy Degerness coor- dinates the city’s Y2k commiltce and says the work goes far beyond the city’s $235,000 municipal software upgrade now underway.

Tn fact if truth be told, she says, they don’t really care if city hall computers crash and memos can’t be printed or tax niolices can’t be issued for a few days in January.

“The main areas of direct cily concern has been ensuring water will flow when you turn on your taps,’’ she says.

All of the parts of the cily water system, right down to components of the well and pumphouse, are being checked to ensure there’s no computer chips that will bomb when the century licks over.

In most cases thal involves getting letters of assurance from suppliers that the com- ponents arc Y2K-ready, Degerness saitl.

Thal’s because the weil’s normal opera- tion depends on power from B,C, Hydro.

Degemess says the city will thcrefore have crews on standby when the clock ticks over prepared to fire up generators to ensure cily wells and pumps keep operating if the power does go out. ;

They’ve also taken steps to ensure city equipment can get fucl from local gas sup-

pliers cven if gas pumps stop working.

That’s needed lo ensure the generators run and city equipment and snow plows can continue to function,

The key to it all is organization and plan- ning, she says,

“I's a big thing. As long as you have your lists and you go back to those lists and make sure everything is ticked off, it should be okay.’”

Many suppliers and outside organizations are reluctant to give rock-solid guarantces that they’Ii still be functioning.

In most cases they’re confident of their own systems, but can’t be certain of out- siders.

“Everybody seems to think I’m up, but 1 can’t guarantee if you’re going to be up,'? says fire chicf Randy Smith. “It’s a domino effect.”?

Despite the detailed preparations, Deger- ness doesn’t expect serious trouble,

“My personal feeling is across the coun-

city DEPUTY treasurer Judy Degerness installs

Y2K-compliant software in city computer systems,

But even that’s no guarantee things will

work,

said,

Iry is going to go real smoothly,” she

Gas, food shortages believed possible

ONE LOCAL man isn’t convinced the Year 2000 will arrive withouta hitch,

Mike Rosenau, a local pastor, has conducted ex- tensive research into the Y2K issue and has given semingrs in northem B.C. on it,

He says that while businesses and governments have taken big steps to ad- dress the problem in the last two years, there are still major areas of vulnerability — even if the power docs stay on.

*“There’s a real possibility we'll have gas shortages,” Rosenau says.

North Sea oil rigs, for cx-

ample, have hundreds of systems that may or may not be ¥2K-compliant buried below sea level,

**There are problems right from the oil coming out of the ground to oil pipelines to oil manufacturing, And in some cases if there are power shortages the gas may nol be pumped out of the ground,” Rosenau says.

In food distribution and niaaufacturing, plus) many olher factory floors across North America, Rosenau says, there arc automated

systems that are not all Year

2000-compiiant, “There is a possibility that it is not going to be business

as usual in terms of things like food distribution and we'te going to have shorlages in some arcas,’’ he said. ‘No one really knows how bad that’s going to be,’?

**It happens in other coun- tries now,” he - adds, “They’re used’ to it. but we're not.used to it, we're used to having everything available to us now.??

Rosenau hopes that most people take~ at. feast some basic precautions and.ensure they have extra cash. and canned and dry goods’ on hand) = os

“The very best thing that could happen” is people

would begin to store some essential items well in ad- vance of the year 2000,” he says. “If every citizen were lo pick up a couple of extra items every time they go to the grocery store then if

there are shortages in Janu- |

ary or February, there won't be panic and peaple won't be rushing down and empty- ing the store”? =~. Rosenau ‘said his family has taken up canning, ad- ding his church bought a canner for the congrega-

tion’s use and they’re busy.

sloring some goods. - *’He said it's also important to keep close track of. all

financial’ records: — ‘bank

account balances, invest- ment portfolio statements, credit card statements and other bills — so you can prove what your balances

should be in case those companics lose data or Tecords. —

“It’s better to be safe than

sorry,’’ he adds. kk kkk

There are a number of In- ternet web sites that provide extensive information and analysis of possible ¥2K probiems,

Some of them are:

www. yearZH).con. owww.canZi.com www.timebomb2000,com

www.euy2k.com