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November 10, 1999
Web posted at: 7:55 a.m. EDT (1155 GMT)

In this story: 911 call centers could face their own emergencies Y2K could bring hard lessons for schools, doctors Big problems for small businesses U.S. trading partners are ready RELATED STORIES, SITES

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The White House has some good news for Americans as clocks tick toward the new year: the lights won't go out, telephones won't quit ringing and nuclear bombs won't accidentally detonate because of the Year 2000 computer bug.

"The report shows that our hard work in this country is paying off and while there is more to do, I expect we will experience no major national breakdowns as a result of the Year 2000 date change," President Clinton said Wednesday at a news conference at the White House.

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Clinton also said he's confident that government programs such as air traffic control and Social Security will work "exactly as they should."

"We think the basic infrastructure in the country is going to be in very good shape, banking, finance, telecommunications, electric power, air and rail transportation," John Koskinen, chairman of the President's Council on the Year 2000 Conversion, told CNN on Wednesday.

But in the government's final report on the nation's Y2K preparations, the panel warned that many local governments, schools, doctor's offices and small businesses haven't made Y2K repairs. Some are simply taking a "wait and see" stance toward possible computer-related failures when the calendar turns to 2000.

Among the biggest problem areas for Y2K readiness are 911 emergency call centers. Surveys of more than 2,700 centers found that only about half were Y2K compliant as of October 1.

"It doesn't mean the system is going to shut down, but in a lot of cases it means people are going to have to go to manual processes, which may slow, to some extent, emergency response," Koskinen said.

Koskinen said many of the 911 centers expect to have their systems ready before the start of the new year, but they need to work quickly.

"There's no time to waste," he said. "This has got to be the highest priority of those systems still trying to conclude their work."

Many schools could be left in the dark and without heat or fire alarms because of Y2K-related equipment problems. Even student records could be affected.

"A third of the schools are still working to get those systems done," Koskinen said.

Doctors offices and other small health-care facilities also face problems.

"We think the adequacy of health care will be fine. You'll get good treatment wherever you go," Koskinen said. But he said many of those facilities have not updated their patient control and reimbursement systems.

"They've been late all along the way," he said.

Koskinen

Many small businesses are just waiting to see what will happen.

An April 1999 survey by the National Federation of Independent Business found 28 percent of small companies considered vulnerable to Y2K problems did not plan to do anything to head problems off. Instead, they plan to tackle them after they occur, an approach that U.S. officials said could put companies out of business.

Koskinen has advice for the governments and businesses that aren't Y2K ready -- plan for the worst.

"They've got to be prepared for failures that may occur and with backup and contingency plans," he said.

Citizens should prepare, too, but not panic. Americans are being encouraged to get ready for local problems by stocking up on drinking water in case community treatment plants aren't ready for 2000.

But experts have repeatedly warned against stockpiling supplies, saying a run on food, gasoline, prescriptions and even cash might cause more problems than the threat of Y2K failures.

The White House study said the largest U.S. trading partners, Canada and Mexico, will be Y2K ready, and so will most developed countries with which the United States conducts the bulk of its trade.

Four of the five countries the U.S. most relies upon for oil imports, for example, predicted no problems with their drilling, refining and delivery systems. Those were Venezuela, Mexico, Canada and Saudi Arabia. Less information was available for Nigeria.

"The greatest risk for significant Y2K-related failures continues to be in developing nations and countries that got a late start on the problem and already have fragile infrastructure systems," the report said. It cited Russia, Ukraine, China and Indonesia as "more likely to experience significant failures."

The new study reassures Americans that the new year won't be heralded with misfired nuclear missiles.

"Y2K problems will not cause nuclear weapons to launch themselves," the White House report promised. "Nuclear weapons launch requires human intervention."

The Y2K problem exists because many older computers and software programs recognize only the last two digits of the year and could mistakenly interpret "00" as 1900.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.