Governor Hochul: “It's a classic Nor'easter. Nothing we haven't seen before, but we want everyone to be aware and be prepared.”
Hochul: “The storm is going to hit earlier than anticipated. We think it's going to start developing in concentration around three o'clock. More intense later in the evening, around 10 o'clock, and go through the night. But what we're seeing, though, is a really statewide event.”
Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul joined Spectrum News 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 Governor's remarks is available here.
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:
Brad Vivacqua, Spectrum News: Joining us now is of course, Governor Kathy Hochul. Governor, thanks so much for spending a few minutes with us – obviously this impending storm, a lot of people talking about it across the State.
Governor Hochul: What do you want people to know? Well, this is a classic Nor'easter, and we are tracking it very, very closely with our brand new state of the art, State Weather Risk Communication Center, and we've been getting up to the minute analytics and intelligence that we've never had before, so we feel that our information is very precise.
The storm is going to hit earlier than anticipated. We think it's going to start developing in concentration around three o'clock. More intense later in the evening, around 10 o'clock, and go through the night. But what we're seeing, though, is a really statewide event. Eight to 12 inches throughout two thirds to possibly three quarters of the State.
Fortunately, missing some of our more populated areas downstate, the Long Island and New York City, if they get anything beyond rain, it'll just be a wintry mix of one to two inches, but really for our Southern Tier, our Capital Region, our Mohawk Area, Hudson Valley, it's going to be first major snowstorm of the year and we're ready for it.
And we've been preparing for this since Wednesday. I just got off another briefing call from my team. They're very experienced and we just want to let people know that this is going to be one of those storms where we encourage people to stay home. Don't go out in the streets, if you don't have to, it might be a great night to take down the Christmas tree or have cocoa with them and finish off the last of the Christmas cookies, watch a movie with the family, but really try to avoid being outdoors if you can because we don't want anyone to get hurt with falling limbs if it comes an ice storm and the branches snap and they come down and take down power lines, it can be very dangerous.
So, basically, it's a classic Nor'easter. Nothing we haven't seen before, but we want everyone to be aware and be prepared.
Brad Vivacqua, Spectrum News: Yeah, and Governor, I know a lot of people are thankful this is happening. This first storm really is happening on a weekend, and you know, they'll wake up on Sunday. What should they know about cleanup? I know you said you've been preparing for at least a couple of days for this, but do you feel the State is prepared as for cleanup crews being out on the road?
Governor Hochul: Oh, yes. And we've already pre-salted the roads, so that's an important start. When you have the intelligence that can help you track this so precisely, we know where the plows need to be. We have thousands of plows and crew members and utility crews all standing at the ready to go where they need to be. And given the scale of this, literally, a massive statewide event, it's hard to pinpoint where the biggest problems will be, so you put people on the ground earlier, and that's how we're ready.
So, we have over 2,100 plows waiting from the Thruway Authority and the DOT. We have the digital signs warning people on the Thruway. We're in contact with other states that are adjacent to us. We can get the monitoring and the messaging out there as well, but we have all kinds of extra personnel deployed. We have all the salt we need. We have generators and cots and bottled water. Our State Operations Center is operational 24/7. And we're just asking New Yorkers really to take some of your own precautions. Go out shopping now, stock up on food, don't be on the roads overnight, don't get close to snowplows. We always say, “Don't crowd the plow.”
And if you have a power outage, be sure to report it immediately. We will work very hard to get your power back on as soon as possible. If you want to stay on top of this, you can sign up for our New York alerts: Alert.ny.gov. So, that's what we're telling people, but nothing unexpected. It's the biggest one in quite a while. I think everyone should be ready and we’ll just ride it out.
Brad Vivacqua, Spectrum News: Certainly, good advice, Governor. And of course, a good weekend maybe to just stay home and watch some football or what have you. But you mentioned that – drink some hot cocoa and just enjoy being inside and let this storm go out of its way.
But again, thank you so much for joining us today.
Governor Hochul: All right. Thank you, everybody. Be safe. Stay home.