There is no need to overreact, either. Hoarding drugs, food and other supplies could cause artificial shortages. If everyone does that, the phone network could be overwhelmed. Q. I've heard that government officials will be monitoring Y2K problems all day Dec. 31. A. Midnight strikes the Republic of Kiribati in the South Pacific when it is 5 a.m. Dec. 31 in New York.
Midnight then hits Australia, Asia, Europe and eventually the United States.
That doesn't mean you need to only pay attention to your local time. Many systems, including air traffic control, use the standard of Greenwich Mean Time, which is five hours ahead of Eastern time. Don't assume it's a Y2K failure, and don't assume it's a problem everywhere. Power goes out all the time, and the electric companies have backup systems in place and can borrow power from neighboring utilities. If an ATM doesn't work, go to another a few blocks away.