That headline is misleading, which may be why other papers have not carried the story. And it is not just the headline. Take this lead-in: "Start hoarding now, government tells families."
Stocking up for two weeks is hoarding? That is contingency planning for a worst-case scenario?
Where has this reporter been? A recent article by the head of Miami-Dade County's Office of Emergency Management also recommended that people stock up for a two-week period. Nobody, so far as I know, has screamed "Panic!" I posted that article to another Y2K forum here:
Message 6793016
Let me quote the most relevant passage, where the Chief is commenting on a Y2K preparedness survey of the nation's fire, police, EMS, and military agencies:
For some insight as to how long disruptions will last, the ERRI survey found that
responses ranged from 15.7% believing that Y2K is a hoax or vastly overblown and having little effect to 5.2% stating it is a potential catastrophe in the making..... We've heard it all before, both sides of the argument, no disruptions to "meltdown."
This wide range of possibilities makes it impossible to prepare a majority of the
residents of any community. Therefore, we need to establish a goal that is both
realistic and obtainable. In my community, the goal I am proposing is that 100% of
the residents will be self-sufficient for 14 days. My experience has shown me that
most people will not prepare for more than 14 days. In most cases, I have found that
3 days is more realistic. So telling people to prepare for ninety days or longer is not
going to move communities. In fact, our credibility can and will be lost if we are
perceived as making unreasonable requests.
Since we are not going to know the extent of Y2K disruptions, we need to base our
goal setting on things we can accomplish. Every household, self-sufficient for 14
days, is a reasonable and obtainable community goal.
Sounds pretty sane (and un-panicked) to me. Could it be just that the Brits have no experience preparing for emergencies like hurricanes, floods, etc.?
jbe
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