By By Sherry Digmon
Advance Staff Writer
Americans held their collective breath Friday evening as the clock struck midnight.
The years of Y2K preparation came down to a single stroke. And then time was on the other side.
No one can say for sure what might have happened had all the testing not been done, had the precautions not been taken.
Fortunately, Atmore was able to join the rest of the nation in breathing a sigh of relief as 1999 rolled over to 2000 without incident.
Several businesses and agencies around Atmore had people on duty, just in case. Some employees went to work Saturday to check key computer systems.
* The Atmore fire and police departments and city hall had additional staff on duty. Mayor Rodney Owens said city employees enjoyed fireworks – which had been purchased out of town – and socialized before going home about 12:30 a.m.
As far as Y2K problems, he said there were "absolutely none."
Police Chief Danny McKinley said the night was quiet with no problems. Additional officers on duty were sent home at 2 a.m.
Fire Chief Gerry McGhee sent his firefighters home about 12:30 a.m.
* Employees in United Bank's Information Systems Department (ISD) were on duty New Years Eve.
No problems were reported as of noon Monday.
* Major Mike Murphy of the Escambia County Sheriff's Department reported no Y2K-related mishaps, even though the department has been plagued with computer problems. The jail computer crashed last fall during Y2K testing.
Eleven units were out in the county, Sheriff Tim Hawsey said, but the calls were routine, mostly domestic in nature.
However, one call made Hawsey anxious until it was resolved.
* Alabama Power Company manager Peggy Byrd said everything went "without a hitch." Power continued uninterrupted. Computers were up and running.
* Jim Byrd, Southern Pine general manager, reported no problems.
* Tom Wolfe, manager of the Atmore Utilities Department, and Bobby Davis, field superintendent, were out checking gas pressures New Years Eve.
* Dale Hurst, who headed up the Y2K committee at First National Bank, reported "no problems, as expected."
* County Clerk Tony Sanks reported no Y2K occurrences at all throughout the county. There was a problem with a transmission line at the satellite courthouse but it was not Y2K related.
* Frontier Communications Alabama State General Manager Richard Burgess said, "No problems occurred locally."
The company issued the following statement: "Frontier is proud to state that the millennium date change has had little impact on the company's local, long distance, Internet, web hosting and teleconferencing operations."
Frontier worked on Y2K compliance for more than three years.
However, just because midnight has come and gone, Frontier is still prepared for problems that might occur.
* Diamond Gas was able to supply gas and convenience store items for everyone who needed them.
All pumps and cash registers functioned properly.
* Mike Myers, spokesman for Regions Bank, said Regions experienced no problems.
* When the clock struck midnight, Escambia County E911 Director Brad Smith was sitting in front of the computer screen.
The staff ran several test calls, and within a few minutes, several real calls came in. All the equipment worked fine.