Re: Y2K: Am I paranoid?

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Michael S. Lorrey [retroman@together.net] wrote:
>Why did their grid go down?

It was only the Auckland grid, and it failed because some of the main power lines into the city went down. There was still some power available through the other lines, but not much.

> How did the fact that Australia had power make
>any
>difference to the fact that New Zealand did not?

Because anything that the Aucklanders needed could be shipped in from the rest of New Zealand, which had power, or Australia, which had power. If power goes down in most of the world (unlikely, but possible), or if power goes down in some places and airports and rail go down and highways are blocked with cars and trucks, you can't do that. I don't think Y2K will get that bad in most places, but probably will in some.

>I think that emergency
>management agencies have plenty of generator capacity to maintain C3I
>during
>such emergencies.

Only one problem with that... many of the military's biggest Y2K problems are in the command and information systems. This is one reason why the National Guard are going to be testing callout with good old low-tech shortwave radios later this year.

>Anyone who does not buy a generator even for minimal houshold
>tasks deserves what they get, considering the amount of advanced wanring.

Problem: business-sized generators are in short supply, and most people can't store enough gas at home to run a smaller generator for long. Not to mention that if we do get into a roving hordes situation people would be fools to run generators and attract them. I'm thinking about buying one, but it would be primarily as a useful gadget for film-making, not for Y2K alone.

Mark

• [ Next ] In reply to: Michael S. Lorrey