http://www.ocregister.com/politics/war026w.shtml

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State is gearing up for New Year's emergencies

PLANNING: The National Guard and trade officials are among those trying to head off potential problems.

December 26, 1999

By KIMBERLY KINDY The Orange County Register

In four days, a pair of millennial war rooms  two years in the making  will snap into place in Orange County.

Activation begins at 6 a.m. Thursday as 600 California National Guardsmen roll into their Los Alamitos base to run through training drills  and to be on standby should any New Year's Eve mayhem break out.

Just yards away  at the same location  the state's Southern California Office of Emergency Services Center will go on Stage 1 alert, opening up with 30 people  including technology experts, state emergency workers and law enforcement.

And feeding into this is Orange County's own emergency center in the Santa Ana Mountains, which will track and respond to any power outages, civil unrest, technology glitches or medical problems that might break out in the community.

It's part of a huge statewide network  the largest in the nation  aimed at preventing, or at least controlling, any crisis that could be triggered by the dawning of a new century.

Opening the state's and Orange County's crisis "nerve centers" before a crisis even takes place is unprecedented.

"It's also the first time we have ever sat down before an event and said: 'Hey what do you think might happen? How many cops you got? Let me write that down,' " said Orange County sheriff's Capt. Joe Davis. "Y2K forced us to do that. We've never been so prepared."

Computers, telephones and radios  augmented with generators and satellites  will be used to communicate with California's efforts, which reach around the globe.

The state's global project  dubbed Follow the Sun  will monitor any glitches in foreign trade. State staffers will be in nine foreign countries tracking problems  with technology or mankind  as the millennium unfolds around the world, beginning at 4 a.m. PST Dec. 31 as New Zealand becomes the first to celebrate.

"There is no other state in the nation that is doing anything like California," said state Trade and Commerce Secretary Lan Hatamiya. "About $250 billion (25 percent) of our annual economy is dependent on foreign trade. That's why this is important to us."

State officials have not yet determined what the New Year's Eve efforts will cost. Overtime for staff will come out of the regular operating budget. About $100,000 was spent on special new equipment for the evening.

The most expensive Y2K project, however, was getting rid of the computer bugs. Price tag: $330 million for the state's 116 agencies and departments.

-- Homer Beanfang (Bats@inbellfry.com), December 27, 1999

Answers

thanks again Homer,

One has to wonder if y2k is so trivial as what Kosky and TPTB proclaim why they are going to such lengths to monitor things. Makes one go HMMMMMMM as someone else on this forum likes to say. Keep us posted on any further events.

-- More Dinty Moore (dac@ccrtc.com), December 27, 1999.

Nothing is going to happen. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain....

-- Stars and Stripes (stars_n_stripes@my-deja.com), December 27, 1999.

If 25% of the California economy is Foreign Trade, they're TOAST!

If Y2K turns out even moderately bad, expect the Globalization drive to be halted in its tracks.

Seattle was a warning.

-- ~~~~ (Losing it @ Lost it.com), December 27, 1999.