GLITCH-WATCHERS BRACE FOR COMPUTER CHAOS

  

By MAGGIE HABERMAN

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Meet the Y2K alarmists.

 

They're a faction of millennium-computer-bug watchers who are certain the Y2K glitch will black out power grids, shutter airports and create urban anarchy.

 

They are hoarding food, water and weapons - and they're heading for the hills, away from America's big cities.

 

When the clock strikes midnight on Dec. 31, 1999, a glitch in millions of systems is expected to make computers go haywire.

 

When the ball drops in Times Square at midnight that year, the Y2K survivalists expect to be tucked away in the American heartland - figuring that the water and power systems in metropolises will fail, and people will take up arms against their neighbors.

 

At the dawn of the computer era, during the 1950s and '60s, programmers tried to save memory by using only two digits to record year dates - like "98" for 1998.

 

That shortcut is on track to wreak technological havoc when the year 2000 hits - because computers will read "00" as the year 1900.

 

Programmers have been hard at work trying to update current systems - a process many experts warn began too late, and won't accomplish enough.

 

There are now hundreds of Y2K-related Web sites on the Internet - where much of the computer-bug information is exchanged - ranging from techniques for storing water in old soda bottles to how to organize a local militia.

 

"I think the situation is gonna be worse than a lot of people are willing to believe," said Montana resident Bo Maiuri, whose Web site advertises supplies for a potential year-2000 Armageddon.

 

"What I hear from people is, "We're stocking up,'" said Maiuri.

 

"My wife and I are investigating solar power as an alternative, and we're already doing food storage," he said.

 

Maiuri is not a Y2K extremist - but he's ready for a worst-case scenario.

 

"I tell people, at least be ready for a short-term power outage," he said.

 

And as he watches people prepare for the worst, Maiuri notes that "what was once considered extreme has now become mainstream."

 

The "Organizing Home Defenses Forces" Internet site offers Y2K defense strategies under the boldface headline, "Y2K Meltdown Preparation."

 

"The people firing the weapons will not be Rambo wannabes but people like you who have no alternative to taking up arms in defense of your family and your own life and property," the Web site reads.

 

Leading Y2K experts warn that the hysterics are a small portion of the Y2K watchers - but that the possibility of chaos is real.

 

"Many of the people who are stockpiling guns and moving to the mountains are people who would be doing it anyway. Y2K just gives them another excuse," said Edward Yourdon, who recently moved from upper Manhattan to Taos, N.M.

 

While he's not a survivalist, Yourdon - co-author of "Time Bomb 2000," a book detailing Y2K scenarios - warns people need to be aware of the potential short-term and long-term effects of the bug.

 

At a recent year-2000 seminar, Yourdon said: "I would not allow my family to be in New York City for millennium weekend.

 

"I expect New York to resemble Beirut if even a subset of the Y2K infrastructure problems actually materialize."

 

In an interview, Yourdon said, "I'll stand by that statement. I remember that in 1977 when the power went out, the looting started a few minutes later.

 

"It's a likely reaction in any big city from a bunch of hungry, angry people. Think about it. It's the middle of winter, the lights will be out, there will be no elevators, no subways ... people will put up with that for about a day or two.

 

"Beyond a few days, the situation could turn pretty ugly," Yourdon said.