Governor Hochul: “The bottom line is we're here to help New Yorkers get through what is a life-threatening rainfall event. And I agree with you that people should be able to stay home if possible, but I know right now there's a lot of anxious parents wondering if they're going to be able to get their children home from schools...we want to make sure we get the subways, the trains, our communication system, our transportation system up working because there's children who use the subways to get home from school. People need to be able to know if they can get home from work.”
Hochul: “If people decide to venture out in a vehicle, they do so at their own peril. Because even six inches of rain, one foot of rain, it may look pretty innocuous, it's safe, but that is a condition where your vehicle can be swept away. And we lose more lives of people during flooding events, of which we've had many, especially this summer in the city and the Hudson Valley in particular. The reason people lose their lives in a flood event more often than not is they're swept away in their vehicle.”
Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Adams held a virtual briefing to discuss heavy rainfall and ongoing flooding.
VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.
AUDIO of the Governor's remarks is available here.
PHOTOS of the event will be available on the Governor's Flickr page.
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:
Well, thank you, Mayor. And once again, I commend your leadership and the coordination between your team and our team at the state level. It is seamless. The bottom line is we're here to help New Yorkers get through what is a life-threatening rainfall event. And I agree with you that people should be able to stay home if possible, but I know right now there's a lot of anxious parents wondering if they're going to be able to get their children home from schools.
And I'm working very closely with Janno Lieber who will give updates from the MTA. But our priority in the immediate aftermath of this first wave of the storm - and again, it could come back again, it could reemerge later again this afternoon - but we want to make sure we get the subways, the trains, our communication system, our transportation system up working because there's children who use the subways to get home from school. People need to be able to know if they can get home from work. And so, that is priority number one to make sure that our subways and our rail systems are safe. There have been significant disruptions, without a doubt, particularly heading north.
I just spoke to County Executive George Latimer of Westchester County. The epicenter has shifted from the city regions very much so from Brooklyn and Queens and Manhattan, where I spoke to the borough presidents to offer our assistance, in the Bronx. But it is now heading north into the Hudson Valley. So, we're also coordinating with those localities, as well as Nassau County.
I will say this: “If people decide to venture out in a vehicle, they do so at their own peril.” Because even six inches of rain, one foot of rain, it may look pretty innocuous, it's safe, but that is a condition where your vehicle can be swept away. And we lose more lives of people during flooding events, of which we've had many, especially this summer in the city and the Hudson Valley in particular. The reason people lose their lives in a flood event more often than not is they're swept away in their vehicle.
So, this is a choice people make. We encourage them not to decide to do that. Please stay home, be safe. We are deploying more buses. We have more bus operators to be able to create options if we don't get the subways back on schedule. The airports, right now, Terminal A at LaGuardia is closed because of flooding at a fuel field right now. We brought in more resources from JFK to assist with that as well. Flights are going in and out of the airports, but they are delayed, so people should check on the websites for that as well. Also, we're trying to be as helpful as we can in the city. Mayor, you've been fantastic. We've deployed National Guard. We've deployed more pumps from our surplus to help you and assist. And everyone remembers what happened when I was literally governor one week when Hurricane Ida hit, and we walked those streets of Queens and many parts of the city and people literally drowned in their basement homes. And so, people also need to not get in vehicles but leave your home if you're starting to see water accumulate.
Don't wait until it's up to your knees or higher. By then, it could be a barrier to have access to safely get out the door as we saw before. And so, people really need to be taking this extremely seriously. The state is there to help. We'll get through this together as we always do. So, thank you mayor for your coordination, your outreach, and I look forward to continue to work as we get through this event united as one.