Y2K problems reported as minimal. Photo by Michael Thompson

Y2K problems reported as minimal

By BRIAN BLACKLEY

Managing Editor

Jan. 3, 2000 10 PM

If the Y2K bug ventured into Pike County as the New Year began, it was squashed on arrival, as agencies reported no problems.

South Alabama Electric Cooperative, an organization that provides electricity to much of Pike County, reported that there were no glitches in the change from 1999 to 2000.

"Thanks to the planning and testing of the equipment and our operations, we expect smooth sailing from now into the future," said Max Davis, general manager of South Alabama Electric Cooperative.

Most law enforcement agencies in the area upped patrols in case there were power outages or other significant problems. Distress calls seemed to be minimal, though, according to area law enforcement officers.

The city of Troy seemed to make the transition smoothly. According to Sgt. Benny Scarbrough, public information officer for the Troy Police Department, police department systems seemed to hold up fine under the change.

"I haven’t heard of anything or seen anything that caused problems," he said. "We will still be mindful of potential problems that could surface and we will keep an eye on things for a few days, but so far, nothing out of the ordinary happened with our computers."

Scarbrough also said that no reports of problems in the community came through the police department.

"It seemed as if things went fine," Scarbrough said. "We like to be prepared in case there are problems and we make sure we do whatever we can to prepare for anything like this so that we can deal with it when it comes up. But there were no reports of problems, which is something we are glad to be able to say."

Troy’s Mayor Jimmy Lunsford said the rest of the city also cranked back up Monday morning without incident.

"We had a report from all the department heads this morning saying that none of them had any Y2K problems," Lunsford said Monday. "It was pretty smooth, which is what we prepared for and wanted to see."

Lunsford said the preparations were costly in man-hours and in money, but the results speak for themselves.

"Sometimes you want to second guess these decisions and wonder whether or not we had to do all this, but things worked as we wanted them to, so it’s hard to complain," he said. "It was more costly in time than money, but it apparently paid off."

Chief Moses Davenport with the Brundidge Police Department said his office ushered in the New Year under uneventful circumstances.

"There was nothing at all," Davenport said. "No problems whatsoever."

The local banks also reported that things went well with the change.

"Things went exactly as we expected them to," said Dianna Lee, marketing and public relations coordinator for Troy Bank & Trust. "The New Year was completely uneventful with no interruption or change whatsoever in the bank’s operation."

Lee said a contingency plan had been established and that the bank has spent almost two years preparing for the end of the millennium.

"We had done a lot of upgrading and testing, so we knew what we were facing," she said. "There was no hitch whatsoever."

Taron Thorpe of the Troy branch of Regions Bank reported that the changing of the calendar did little to change the operation of Regions Bank throughout the Southeast.

"We experienced no problems," he said. "Speaking for the whole Southeast, none of the Regions Bank branches experienced problems."

Thorpe said Regions has been preparing for two years for the Y2K bug, and that final testing began in June. Since that time, no problems surfaced, Thorpe said.

Package shipping likewise went over without difficulty, according to Paul Floyd with the Troy branch of the U.S. Post Office.

"We didn’t have any problems that we didn’t expect," he said Monday afternoon. "The only thing we had to do was reset the date on our computers when we came in today, and we could have done that beforehand if we had thought about it. So there were no problems at all with our operation."

Experts say that the ramifications of the changing of the calendar may not be felt for several days and warn caution is still necessary.