First, I would like to thank everyone associated with Ed's bulletin-board for making this forum the pinnicle of Y2K newsgroups. The information and perspectives I have gleaned from all of you, has been nothing short of invaluable. Special thanks to Steve Hartsman, Cory Hamasaki, Paul Milne and of course Ed & Jennifer Yourdon.

I had attempted for just over a year, to get the local 'officials' to understand that an unmitigated juggernaut was headed our way. With a year of snickers and raised eyebrows under my belt, I had reached the point of convincing myself it was futile and there was nothing more I could do in that effort. That all changed when the Sheriff of my county received a letter from FEMA two weeks ago. It stated that contingency planning needed to be of high priority AND that FEMA may not be 'able' to provide support to the more rural areas, if disruptions become severe enough. I have since been asked to attend a meeting with Sheriffs representing three countys this Saturday. Although I feel well prepared for the meeting, I can't help but think I'm overlooking something. If any of you were presented with this opportunity, what points would you make, what questions would you ask and what ideas would you present.

Thank you for your input.

c

-- c (c@c.c), January 22, 1999

Answers

Think water, food and heat. Protection of places where those items may be provided. Local supermarket protection. Fire protection. How to broadcast on the emergency broadcast stations in your area. Crowd control in the event of a national bank run....

-- Bill (y2khippo@yahoo.com), January 22, 1999.

Think also about protection of nursing homes and hospitals.

During recent ice storm, police were also stationed at entrances to malls and at intersections (traffic lights out).

-- Libby Alexander (libbyalex@aol.com), January 22, 1999.

Protected reserves of fuel for essential vehicles, including snowplows, firetrucks, ambulances, tow trucks.

Community planning centered on churches and schools.

Ham radio net - incl. links with other communities in the region.

Readiness of local utilities.

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), January 22, 1999.

Neighborhood watches/patrols. Network of health care providers. Developing local shelters. Evacuation plans for those who need to go to shelters. Community stocks of food, water, etc. Security for such stocks. Workshops and training sessions on how tos. Cb networks.

-- Sam (Sam@spam.com), January 22, 1999.

How come they waited so long to worry?

-- (miffed@them.com), January 22, 1999.

think disaster mitigation by work-arounds. For every plan have at least three versions: A. the plan B. the alternatives if critical support elements are missing (i.e. you have an ice storm, so that the busses to take people to the shelters can't operate safely.) and C. plug 'n play alternatives for worst casing parts of your original plan. (i.e. you discover that the situation is going to last significantly longer than originally expected.)

May God Bless your efforts, Arlin

-- Arlin H. Adams (ahadams@ix.netcom.com), January 22, 1999.