"Most of the inhabitants of the northern cities will die within a matter of a few weeks, from cold, disease, fires started in an attempt to keep warm, or random violence.

-Steve Heller

I don't find this scenario hard to believe. In Cincinnati last summer we had 14 deaths due to extreme heat. We have emergency cool centers all over the city and free transportation for anyone who needs to get to a center.

With all of this help 14 people still died. Steve isn't off base with his prediction. If the power is off, people will die.

-- Barney Fife (slow&easy@cincy.now), December 19, 1999

Answers

Most? I think not.

Many? Hopefully not...

-- Anonymous99 (Anonymous99@Anonymous99.xxx), December 19, 1999.

The power goes off. It is off 3 days. People are cold. What do they do? They get in their cars and try to go someplace warmer. Then what happens?

-- Mr. Pinochle (pinochledd@aol.com), December 19, 1999.

I was in a hurricane in 1979 in Mobile. The entire city lost power for two weeks. No fires, just people running around trying to save their food. Had several near riots at Ice distribution locations.

The storm was fun. No power got old fast.

-- Infidel (Barbarians@thegate.net), December 19, 1999.

Don't mean to disrespect the dead but... A certain small section of the population is always waiting to die. The elderly, the severely diabetic, the frail, those in the final stages of some illness. A heat wave/cold snap merely finishes them off. I'd guess that the 14 who died in Cincinnati were elderly and/or chronically ill.

Also, many would die from nothing but the lack of their daily medication.

BTW, little know fact: Earthquake victims, those who are not buried under rubble, usually perish either from heart attacks or from crime- related violence.

-- boy (this@is.depressing), December 19, 1999.

Didn't the power go out for WEEKS in some Northeastern cities last winter during the ice storm? Most of them didn't die. A few, but not even a "percentage" of the population.

Here's an AP article about the storm. http://cnn.com/WEATHER/9801/14/northeast.storm/index.html

-- Michelle (C@ntdo.it), December 19, 1999.

In Canada the power was out for an extended peroid of time. They received help from many surrounding areas that were not affected bythe power loss. Y2K will hit everyone at once. The only help that you can hope for in this case is,"did you prepare".

-- tom (flstplt@yahoo.com), December 19, 1999.

Hey Barney have you seen Goober lately? I hope he isn't planning on hiding in some damn bunker because I need to fill my car up with gas at the end of the year!

-- Sheriff Andy Taylor (where.is@that.moron), December 19, 1999.