August 26, 1998: The Y2K Problem - Edward Yourdon

Software engineering consultant Edward Yourdon, author of Time Bomb 2000, joins Art Bell to break down the Y2K computer crisis from the programming side after live Hurricane Bonnie coverage from North Carolina. Art takes calls from residents enduring 100-mile-per-hour winds and widespread power outages affecting 240,000 people. He also reports on a severe geomagnetic storm caused by solar winds exceeding one million miles per hour, noting unusual observations about the sun appearing intensely white with no visible yellow component.

Yourdon explains that programmers in the 1960s deliberately truncated year fields to two digits, assuming the software would be replaced long before 2000. He reports that according to metrics expert Capers Jones, the point of no return for fixing the problem passed at the beginning of 1998, with only 25 percent of programmers at major companies currently assigned to Y2K work. He identifies the "iron triangle" of utilities, telecommunications, and banking as the critical systems at risk, revealing that zero out of 7,300 U.S. utility companies are currently Y2K compliant.

Yourdon shares his personal preparations, including leaving the stock market and relocating from New York City to Taos, New Mexico. He predicts regional blackouts, dirty power conditions lasting weeks, and a recession potentially rivaling the Great Depression.