Det här är kopierat från en artikel i Computer Weekly från den 24 september 1998. Scenariot är konstruerat av år 2000-gurun Martyn Emery, director of Corporation 2000, i en rapport till den av president Clinton utnämnda År 2000-kommissionen. New York är inte unikt.

US date bug guru pens chaos theory for New York

New York City - January 2000. Imagine the scene. The city is in chaos.

There is no water, gas, or electricity. Basic foodstuffs are in short supply. Traffic is gridlocked. Disaffected citizens are looting shops and setting fire to cars.

No, this is not the screenplay from the summer hit film Deep Impact; it is the predicted aftermath of the millennium bug.

This apocalyptic vision of the world's most important financial centre could become real, said year 2000 guru Martyn Emery, director of Corporation 2000, in a report for the US Presidential Year 2000 Commission.

In Emery's analysis, the warning signs begin in January 1999. Early date bug problems and the introduction of the euro prompt a stock-market crash. The closure of 10 nuclear power stations which have failed to deal with the issue leads to sporadic power cuts throughout the summer.

By October the public are panic buying. Mayor Guiliani has declared a state of emergency and set up a command and control base in the World Trade Center.

A failure of reservoir control systems during late year 2000 testing leads to water shortages in the Bronx.

The first power cuts occur in December. Gas supplies also fail. The regulatory authorities request a complete halt to international air, rail and shipping services after insurers refuse to provide cover for the year 2000.

Three hundred thousand people are evacuated from Manhattan after a hydrogen sulphide leak at a Hudson River petrochemicals plant. Fifty people die inhaling the toxic gas.

"This is a snapshot of the probable outcome in New York, based on the city's work on the millennium bug so far," said Emery. "New York really needs a Czar, a person to take responsibility for the city infrastructure."