Governor Hochul: “This is something we're monitoring closely. We've been warning people all weekend long that this could be a very treacherous commute, and it is. And what we're most concerned about are the high winds and the coastal areas for flooding…when you get into a vehicle and you go into a road that has standing water on it, that can quickly turn up to be a river. And that's what we caution. Please be smart.”
Hochul: “My message is this: don't become complacent and think that you can weather every single storm. When we're giving these warnings, we're only doing it because lives could be in danger and it's our job to let people know and to protect life. That's our number one job.”
Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul joined NY1 to update New Yorkers on extreme weather as a significant storm system moves through the state, bringing heavy rain and strong winds causing a potential for flooding and power outages.
AUDIO of the event is available here.
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:
Rocco Vertuccio, NY1: Good to have you with us, Governor. First of all, give us an update on what you're seeing in terms of this storm and its impact and where it's having the most impact right now.
Governor Hochul: Well, good morning, and it is having a widespread impact from Long Island through the City all the way up to the Hudson Valley, and it is moving. So this is something we're monitoring closely. We've been warning people all weekend long that this could be a very treacherous commute, and it is. And what we're most concerned about are the high winds and the coastal areas for flooding.
But we do have power outages in Queens, Western Nassau, Queens have been hard hit, and we've seen – I've been Governor two years, it seems like Queens is always the epicenter of some of the worst flooding, and it has a lot to do with the drainage issues there and the people living in basement homes that can be flooded quickly. And that was the loss of life we had two years ago in the fall.
So that's something we're always cognizant of, especially people, not just walking on the street, but when you get into a vehicle and you go into a road that has standing water on it, that can quickly turn up to be a river. And that's what we caution. Please be smart. This will go away. It's not going to be a sustained event, but it’s going to continue bad through the morning and afternoon. And just be safe, everyone.
Rocco Vertuccio, NY1: Yeah. Be careful. Be safe. Heed the precautions. Governor, you mentioned those power outages and you mentioned Queens, the epicenter. A lot of us who've covered Queens for years, we do hear a lot from those frustrated residents who have to deal with this time and time again. What was done in terms of pre-planning for this in dealing with the potential for those power outages? I know a lot of times they pre-position crews to get them in place to deal with the potential for outages.
Governor Hochul: We always do that. That is standard operating procedure for my administration. The second you get the warnings – and we had them Thursday, Friday, we knew this was coming. But you don't know exactly where the hardest areas will be hit. So we have a statewide response. We deploy about 5,000 utility crews in advance, but we know the vulnerable areas.
When New York City gets hit, it is a cataclysmic event because of the population. And if the MTA gets flooded, the subways get flooded, you know, this is wildly disruptive. We've seen this so many times. But also, the Hudson Valley, Westchester, Poughkeepsie is being hit hard. There's a lot of power outages there as well as Queens.
So we have crews deployed. They are ready to go. They are in action right now and already areas are having their power restored. But we watch it closely. If we don't think the response is fast enough, we're on the phone saying, “What's happening here? What's happening there?” But this is basically hitting two-thirds of New York State. So, you have to pinpoint with as much precision as you can where you send those crews in advance and monitor very, very closely and hope they can do their jobs safely as well.
Rocco Vertuccio, NY1: How better prepared do you think we are as we deal with these storms, it seems to be much more frequently, how better prepared where we are today versus even a year ago or just a few years ago?
Governor Hochul: Well, we've always talked about building resiliency, and I'll tell you one difference I saw from Hurricane Ida, for example, we lost 17 lives. A lot of people had their homes flooded and their lives destroyed because the sewers were clogged up. And we have a 100-year-old sewer system, and it takes very little, maybe three-quarters of an inch to clog it up. And so, there's no drainage and the standing water rises and rises, and it goes in people's homes.
I will say since that time, and the City's done a very good job on this, is that they are monitoring closely and clearing those drainages beforehand. Same thing with the MTA. We saw the images of the water rushing down the staircases just not that long ago, but we know those vulnerable areas that are lower lying so we can get to those places early with the pumps.
We have pumps on site that can start pumping the water out quickly. So, I would say we're better off, but Mother Nature is notorious for throwing a curveball. So, we think we're good in one area, she'll go somewhere else. But that's our job is to always be as ready, anticipate the worst and hope for the best.
Rocco Vertuccio, NY1: And Governor, you can warn the public, you can tell them to be extra careful. Talk to me real briefly in our final moments about the importance of not only getting the information out to the public, but the public also heeding it and receiving that information and taking the precautions and preparing, doing their part to prepare for these types of storms.
Governor Hochul: You know that it's so important that people be monitoring news organizations like yours. It's critically important you have real time information so they will know up to the moment – should they stay off the road because it's now closed, and has the wind shifted, is there flooding in certain areas. So, that's what's so important, is that information.
But also, it's just so important for people to, you know, if you can stay home for a little bit while longer, we need to be able to send emergency crews. We need utility crews to be able to get through. We have to clear debris off the roads that are blocking the highways.
That's why we have roads shut down is that the limbs snap, they fall down because of the high winds, and it takes time for them to be removed. And then we've become paralyzed. So we are very vigilant against that. But if people aren't on the roads at this time – and the subway is fully running, so people should be encouraged to take the subway into their jobs – that helps us respond quicker and get out of the situation as fast as we possibly can.
So that's what we're cautioning people, just – you’ve got to be aware of your environment. We have apps that people can sign up for. We have a state-of-the-art monitoring center in Albany that we just opened a month ago that is watching in real time, that's literally showing us on the ground information, you know, what drains are being clogged, where's the water coming, what roads are closed. So, we have really good data now. And we just count on the public to be aware of our warnings and listen to them.
There's always a risk of, “the sky is falling syndrome,” where people say, “Well, I heard this last month and it never was that bad, so I'm not going to listen this time.” That's when we get into danger. We saw that with the historic snowstorm in Buffalo a year ago. We saw that with thousand-year flooding events in the Hudson Valley.
My message is this: don't become complacent and think that you can weather every single storm. When we're giving these warnings, we're only doing it because lives could be in danger and it's our job to let people know and to protect life. That's our number one job.
Rocco Vertuccio, NY1: Alright, Governor, we'll leave it there. Governor Hochul, really appreciate your time this morning. Be safe, and also, happy holidays.
Governor Hochul: Thank you very much. Same to all of you.