Prepare for Y2K? Think of It as an Emergency With a Timetable

As you rub the sleep from your eyes on a Saturday morning 250 days from now, will you be faced with images of the Rose Parade on the tube or something a bit less festive, say the complete collapse of civilization?

As Jan. 1, 2000, approaches, the manner in which Southern Californians are preparing themselves and their homes for possible Y2K problems range from unconcerned to impassioned.

“It’s like someone is running around screaming, ‘The sky is falling!’ ” said George Caroll, a Westlake Village hairdresser who definitely isn’t hoarding food or water.

“This reminds me of the bomb shelter trip in the 1950s,” Caroll said.

But Diann Powell, who lives with and cares for her elderly parents on the Westside, takes potential Y2K problems much more seriously.

“This isn’t about computers anymore,” Powell said. “It’s really a family issue. If something happens and I didn’t prepare my family, I couldn’t live with myself.”

To plan for what she fears might be three months--or longer--without utilities, Powell has stockpiled four FDA-approved 55-gallon drums of water.

Knowing, however, that not everyone will be well prepared for disaster to strike, Powell thought twice about revealing any more about her provisions to a reporter.

“I don’t think anyone in their right mind would tell someone they had food and water in their house,” she said.

Between those who refuse to believe Y2K will bring even a moment of difficulty and those who are preparing for the end of the world, a third group of people is preparing for a few days of hardship.

“What you ought to do is prepare for a good storm, a hurricane, a storm where you’d like two or three days of . . . water and canned goods and the like,” Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), said recently on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

Sen. Robert F. Bennett (R-Utah), Dodd’s colleague on a Senate panel to discuss Y2K problems, said Americans can expect “a bump in the road” in terms of vital services, “but it will not be crippling, and it will not last for an undue length of time.”

That’s also the view of Mike Miller, a Los Angeles biotech manager who is leader of his church’s task force on Y2K.

“I don’t think there’re going to be long-term shortages,” Miller said. But if utilities go down, he and other members of Calvary Chapel Metro Church in Santa Monica “don’t want to be running around like chickens with our heads cut off. We want to be in a position to help people. My personal feeling is we should be prepared for two weeks.”

To prepare, Miller and his wife have stockpiled several 2 1/2-gallon jugs of water in their home, along with nutritious nonperishable foods like peanut butter, granola, canned fruit and canned juices.

But no dehydrated foods for the Millers.

“If you do store food, get stuff you’re going to eat,” he said. “You’re not going to want cardboard.”

And because they are expecting a baby in a few months, they will have a good supply of diapers on hand in case there are supermarket shortages.

Plus, the Millers bought a camping stove to supplement their outdoor barbecue and batteries for their flashlights.

As for a gas-powered generator, the couple talked it over and decided not to buy or rent one. From what he’s heard, even if the power grid goes down in the rest of the country, the Los Angeles grid can be separated and functional within a few hours or days.

“I don’t see any reason for people to go out and buy a generator,” said Chris Rhoades, sales manager at Adco Equipment in Pico Rivera.

Even so, he has sold a dozen gas-powered generators--priced from $650 to $1,700--to homeowners in the last six weeks.

As for people wanting to rent a generator for the first week of the new year, they are told to call back one week ahead of time; construction companies with jobs going on will have first dibs on the rentals.

And come Jan. 1, even Rhoades won’t have a generator at the Chino Hills home he shares with his wife and two children.

“People are panicking, and they don’t have to. Everybody can survive a few days without utilities. You always have 55 gallons of water in your water heater and six cans of chili beans in the cupboard.”

The Red Cross also recommends a modest level of preparation for Y2K problems, as it does for any emergency, such as an earthquake or storm, when relief may come in hours or days.

“No one can be certain about the effects of the Y2K problems,” says the organization’s Web site, which recommends that you “stock disaster supplies to last several days to a week for yourself and those who live with you.”

Here are the basic areas of concern if utilities and services are disrupted and a modest plan to prepare for shortages.

* Water: According to the Red Cross, water can be stored six months, and you’ll need to store one gallon of water per person per day. This includes two quarts for drinking and two quarts for cooking and sanitation.

A family of four preparing for three days without utilities would need 12 gallons of water.

Store water in plastic containers, avoiding cardboard milk cartons, which can leak, or glass bottles, which can break during an earthquake, a disaster whose potential will continue when Y2K is long gone. And though the water in your water heater is safe to drink, the water in pools and spas is contaminated by chemicals and should not be consumed.

* Food: Store at least a three-day supply of nonperishable food, the Red Cross suggests, selecting food that requires no refrigeration or cooking, like canned fruits and vegetables. Now is not the time to stock up on frozen pizza.

If you must cook, a can of Sterno will help. An outdoor barbecue or camp stove can make the emergency feel like a camping trip.

* Heat: Though heat can be a life-or-death necessity for those in other parts of the country, people in normal good health in Southern California are unlikely to die from cold if their heaters don’t work.

Still, for comfort, a supply of blankets or sleeping bags is good to have handy. And if you have a fireplace, a small stock of firewood gives you the option of roasting marshmallows.

* Light: Early to bed for a few evenings won’t spell disaster for the typical family. But stumbling around on a dark January night is not fun, either. Flashlights and batteries will do the trick, as will hand-cranked flashlights.

Candles will make the potential days of disaster more romantic but can cause a fire if used carelessly.

A battery-operated or hand-cranked radio will make it easier to keep your family informed during any days of lost electricity.

* First Aid Kit: Always good to have on hand when the roads are gridlocked or the supermarkets shut down, a first aid kit could include sterile adhesive bandages, safety pins, soap, aspirin, scissors, tweezers, moistened towelettes, antiseptic, thermometer and petroleum jelly.

If your prescribed medicine is due to run out on Jan. 2, you could arrange to purchase an extra prescription to last you the month.

* Sanitation: What do you do if the toilets won’t flush? The Red Cross recommends stockpiling some plastic garbage bags with ties, which can hold human waste for a few days until things are back to normal.

Buckets with tight-fitting lids are another option. And be sure to have enough toilet paper on hand.

* Entertainment: In the end, a few days without the television and VCR could bring families closer together. Remember books? And games?

* Cash: It’s almost impossible to imagine life without an ATM shuffling $20 bills into our hands. But if the bank grid goes down, so does our ability to swipe ATM cards at the gas station, the bank and the supermarket.

Having a supply of small bills on hand is a good idea.

On the other hand, the sun might rise Jan. 1, 2000, on a Y2K-compliant, unflawed, unaffected, perfectly functioning world.

Said Diann Powell, who will lay in supplies for a year if she can afford it: “If nothing happens, great. I’ll sit back and laugh at myself.”

Kathy Price-Robinson is a freelance writer. She can be reached at:kathyprice@aol.com.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

In Case of Emergency

This emergency packet was developed by Calvary Chapel Metro Church’s Y2K Task Force to show church members what to store in their homes. It contains one day of supplies for one person.

* 2 1/2 gallons of water

* 2 cans of tuna or chicken

* 1 can of fruit

* 3 high-protein bars

* 1 bottle of high-energy drink

* 1 nonelectric can opener

* 3 sets of forks, knives and spoons

* 3 paper plates

* 3 Styrofoam cups

* 3 paper bowls

* 1 flashlight with batteries

* 5 plastic bandages

* 2 antibiotic ointment packets

* 2 antiseptic pads

* 1 plastic trash bag

* 1 roll of toilet tissue

* 1 emergency blanket

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

More on Preparing for Y2K

Books:

“Y2K & You: The Sane Person’s Home-Preparation Guide” by Dermot McGuigan and Beverly Jacobson (1999, Chelsea Green Publishing Co., White River Junction, Vt., $15.95).

“Y2K for Women: How to Protect Your Home and Family in the Coming Crisis” by Karen Anderson (1999, Sovereign Press, Colleyville, Texas, $19.95).

Video:

Ed Yourdon’s Year 2000 Home Preparation Guide (1998, Y2K Solutions Group, Chapel Hill, N.C., $19.95).

Web Sites:

https://www.Cassandraproject.org lists community Y2K preparedness groups in Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Sunland, Irvine, Tehachapi, San Diego, Santa Barbara and other areas.

https://www.Y2kwomen.com includes long checklist of possible foods and supplies to stock up on in case of Y2K problems).

https://www.redcross.org