-Caveat Lector-
www.cbn.org/news/stories/980710.asp
Surviving the Crisis:
How to Prepare For
Y2K
July 10, 1998
It's what everybody wants to know:
how long will the Y2K crisis last? In the
event of likely power outages and food
shortages when the crisis hits, how will
people get through it? And what can
they do to prepare?
Kim Ferrall, reporter
The question is not if. It's when.
When should you start getting your family ready for the Year 2000?
The answer is now.
CBN News is taking you shopping with Paloma O-Riley. She's the
co-founder of the Cassandra Project and an expert in preparedness for
Year 2000 computer-related disruptions.
Q: How can people begin to get ready?
"The two primary sources of heat that we recommend are both the
kerosene heaters," says O'Riley. "There are also propane heaters, and
there are wood stoves. Wood stoves are probably the favorite option
of a lot of people."
Q: Should I just wait until it gets cooler in the fall to buy
heaters?
"Absolutely not," says O'Riley. "You need to start looking into
preparedness materials now -- while they are still available -- and they
are readily available. And also, the sooner we start asking for things,
the quicker the production system can ramp up and supply them."
O'Riley says there's no need to panic, but we've only got about six
months left to get ready. That's because you're going to start seeing
some Year 2000 problems come January 1999. Some retailers we
talked to are already gearing up.
"The people that have been calling for the Year 2000 have been talking
about bulk quantities -- stuff for at least a few weeks," says Cheri
Moser, the manager of Blue Ridge Mountain Sports. "We've been
looking to stockpile larger quantities, enough for a month, maybe two."
But not every store is up and ready ... yet. Kent Artist is an assistant
manager for Lowe's home improvement warehouse in Virginia Beach.
He says theirs is a response-based industry.
"In retail, you deal with today," he says. "You deal with tomorrow. And
the third day's gonna come, eventually. But planning from a retail
standpoint, what product they buy, what product we have available -- I
don't think it's thought of that far in advance."
Getting people to change the way they think is the key. O'Riley says the
best thing to do is the think of the worst-case scenario. It's not going to
be business as usual; she says people should expect interruptions in
water, power, and food.
"We're talking a national emergency here," she says. "An international
emergency. There is no organization that can handle that. So we have
to stop expecting somebody to come and fix it for us, or to do it for us.
It's not going to happen."
Q: What's the first thing people should think about in an
emergency?
"Water," says O'Riley. "Let's take four members in a family. They want
to store water for 90 days -- we're talking about 360 gallons of
drinkable water. This is not necessarily the same water you would be
using to wash dishes or to wash clothes. So you would need to be able
to store that much water safely."
In addition to water filters, O'Riley recommends buying 55-gallon
drums made of food-quality plastic to store your water. They're
available at hardware stores or through mail-order catalogs. But
remember ...
"If you're going to get a thing of water that large, you have to remember
to have a siphon," says O'Riley. "It's not going to be possible with one
of these to pick it up and pour the water out."
Q: What about generators? As far as cost is concerned, we're
looking at almost $1400.
"People need to ask themselves -- what do they need the electricity
for?" says O'Riley. "If the only thing they really need it for is just to run
their lights and their TV sets, they really shouldn't be thinking about
getting a generator."
Save your generators for emergency uses like running medical devices.
O'Riley says the better bet is to look for alternative heating sources.
"Natural gas is probably a little more reliable, given a worst-case
scenario, than an electric stove," says O'Riley. "However, because
natural gas delivery systems may also be affected, people might want to
make sure they can use a natural gas stove and adapt it for use with
propane."
Then there's always solar heat, which covers everything from solar
lights to showers.
Q: What about food?
Canned foods are a good start. Depending on the size of your family,
look for #10 cans, if possible. Most importantly, be sure to check the
expiration dates. You can also buy freeze-dried foods at camping
goods stores, or order direct from catalogs.
"They are all freeze-dried," says O'Riley. "They do have dehydrated
foods on the market -- different brands."
"It's actually cheaper to buy a dehydrator and do your own food," says
Moser. "That's definitely an option for people looking for large
quantities."
As for your financial affairs, O'Riley suggests paying off as many of
your bills as you can. Rent or mortgage payments should be paid three
months in advance to get you through the peak of the crisis. And by all
means, get hard copies of all financial and medical records too.
You can get more information on personal preparedness from The
Cassandra Project's internet website.
What about those who might call this kind of planning extreme or even
alarmist? As O'Riley says, it's better to be safe than sorry.
"I think of it as taking precautions," she says. "Making sure that my
family and my friends are going to be OK. And I would much rather do
that and be wrong and not need it, that not having done it, I stuck my
head in the sand and having somebody hurt because of it."
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