Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Holds Storm Briefing Ahead of Major Nor'easter Forecast to Impact Upstate Regions This Week

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Today we're here to give an update on, yes, a March Nor'easter. Not that we haven't missed it a little bit, we didn't have one to speak of last year, but we're going to make up for some lost time with what is going to be an epic event.

I want to acknowledge the extraordinary team that has more experience than they probably want to have. But they're the ones who've been through this with me so many times, literally in the foxhole or in the headquarters, the emergency personnel offices, the operation centers, and sometimes on the side of a road talking about our next steps. So I want to thank Commissioner Jackie Bray. You'll be hearing from her shortly, the Commissioner of Homeland Security and Emergency Services. Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez, our Department of Transportation Commissioner, Superintendent Steve Nigrelli from the State Police. Executive Director of the Thruway Authority, Frank Hoare. And our locally own elected officials who've been through this a lot before and are great partners, County Executive Dan McCoy and Mayor Kathy Sheehan.

So let's give you an update. We are looking at what I would call another episode of March Madness. And because of the timing, everybody, we're saying, "Stay home, work on your brackets and make sure that you're supporting our New York State teams that have made the finals." So let's make sure that we are home safe. That's the number one message. There's no reason in the world to have plans to be out tomorrow. Today is the day you get ready. Do everything you need to do, stock up on the groceries, stock up on the batteries, stock up on making sure you got enough chargers, everything you're going to need - additional light sources because it's going to be one where we're going to see serious loss of power. That is that is a statement of fact. There will be loss of power.

But I also want to talk about how we're planning for this. We've been through this before. We just came through an extraordinary winter in Buffalo. Seven feet of snow in November before Thanksgiving. Christmas holiday, where we were all holed up in a hotel, was with my Christmas dinner partners as we were dealing with the blizzard of the century. So we're no strangers to snow here, but we also want to make sure that does not mean complacency sets in. That is our biggest fear. People in Upstate say, "Well, snow's coming, another snowstorm. I've lived my whole life with snowstorms." But this is one where we're cautioning people that this could be deadly, and that is the message that we're here to deliver today.

So the key to handling this? Early preparation, early warnings. I just gave the warning, let me repeat it. This will be a dangerous storm. Please stay off the roads for your own safety. Stay in your homes, also for the safety of these incredible men and women throughout Upstate New York who will be giving up their time, working around the clock to make sure that the roads are plowed. It is very, very hard to plow the roads when there are people in front of you or cars that insisted on venturing out and end up in a ditch and have to be rescued. This really affects our ability to respond in real time, and you'll hear more about that.

So it's also about pre-positioning resources. You'll hear about how we've already launched and pre-positioned 100 National Guard in this region ready to step in. We are bringing in staff. We brought utility crews from all over, even from Canada, are now positioned in this region to be able to get the power back on. And I have been through enough power outages myself to know, especially as a young mom, what it's like when you're in your house and you got kids, they're not in school, you have no power, it is cold, and it is scary. So we are going to be working very hard to position trucks, utility teams here and now, so they can respond as soon as possible.

But that all being said, when the roads are too busy, even for our utility trucks to be on, you have to know it's going to take some time to get the power restored. I just want people to know that. So they'll work as fast as they can, and if we don't think it's fast enough, I assure you, we let them know. I have no hesitation in calling any company head and saying, "That's not fast enough. Get the people out there now." But it's all about prepositioning. We feel comfortable with that right now.

I also want to make sure that people know that we are going to be declaring a State of Emergency beginning at 8:00 p.m. tonight. This is how we can amplify the message that this is serious, but also allows us to deploy resources and take extraordinary measures to protect the safety of our residents and their properties. So I'll have the commissioners explain this as well.

So here's what's happening. Light snowfall expected late this morning - I guess we're already past the morning - early afternoon, picking up later tonight. So about eight inches, Western New York, Finger Lakes, which is manageable. But then it intensifies. So one to two inches an hour. Three inches an hour, which is a lot. Three inches an hour is a lot of snow coming down, Monday night through Tuesday afternoon. New York City, Long Island, couple of inches of snow, and also we're watching coastal flooding on Long Island. This is something we're keeping an eye on and making sure we have individuals in place.

What complicates things? Not just the snow coming down and the rate of snow, but when you add in the mix of a high wind event, we can get upwards of 45, even higher miles an hour, and that's when you get the lack of visibility and the inability for us to drive safely on the roads with the plow. So we're going to be asking people again, stay home so our plows can do what they have to do with very limited visibility.

So the snow is also going to be very heavy. I'm kind of a professional on snow. I like good heavy snow for packing. It's great for having a snowball war and for building snowmen. Those are activities I'd recommend in your backyard only. Don't leave your house. Let's have a snowman building - snowwoman building - contest. And make sure that you're home safely with your kids doing that because heavy, dense snow means one thing - it's going to take down the wires. There's no way around it. When you have snow, that's 50 percent heavier than normal, this is not the light fluffy, pretty Christmas snow. This is going to come down like a brick. And it is that weight that causes the problem. So one and a half feet of snow is going to have the effect of three feet of snow. So that is something we're watching out for in the end.

That's why we're saying, that is not a prediction that there will be some widespread power outages, there will be widespread power outages in a very large geographic area. So we want to make sure that people are aware of that, staying at home tomorrow, because the commutes will be very negatively impacted Monday evening, Tuesday, Wednesday morning. And I've ordered all state employees in the Capital Region who have the ability to work from home in the Capital Region, Mid-Hudson to work from home tomorrow. So we're encouraging other employers to follow suit, especially with the ability to Zoom into your jobs. We're encouraging people to please stay home and off the roads.

So again, fewer roads, safer they'll be. Again, the temperatures are going to drop. They're not going to be below freezing for a sustained period. But again, your power's out? It's cold. Doesn't matter if it's 35 or 40, it is still cold in your home, so making sure everybody's ready for that.

Another area. We talk about what happens when people are out there shoveling the snow. In a normal snow event, shoveling snow, if you don't take breaks, take water breaks, slow down, they can be actually a trigger for heart attacks. That is often the number one cause of fatalities during snow events are heart attacks from shoveling snow. Now that's a normal event. This is an extraordinary event. This is an event where the snow's going to be so much heavier. So please just wait. You don't have to do it the second it falls, especially our senior citizens. Young people, pick up a shovel. Go help your senior citizen neighbors, give them a hand because this could be dangerous to their health if they engage in snow shoveling while it's that heavy and that dangerous.

So we have a lot of prepositioning going on. I'm going to allow the superintendents - or the commissioners to talk about how many plow trucks and loaders and snow blowers. The Thruway Authority and DOT salt sheds are fully stocked for the storm. That is good news. All the personnel, we have about 4,300 already available utility workers, almost up to 8,000 utility workers already in place. We brought in 2,000 from the outside area.

So we are taking this very seriously, and that is the message. Again, bringing the National Guard on duty, and we have people mobilized as we speak. Again, our emergency operations center became activated at 8:00 a.m. We'll be spending a lot of time there over the next 48 hours. We'll be prepared, and we'll continue working with our local officials and calling around to all the counties, as we always do within a large region to see whatever help they need with the plows or anything - standing up warming shelters and places like that.

So again, did you catch the message? No doubt in your minds. This is a serious Nor'easter. It is something to be taken extremely seriously, and that's what we're doing here in the State of New York. And we encourage everyone to heed these warnings. This is your chance today. Get what you need, cancel your plans. I've already canceled a lot of our plans for this weekend and I know this is heading into St. Patrick's Day festivities. I know it's really unlucky this week to have a snowstorm of this scale hit at this time. It's going to disrupt a lot of plans. But it's more important that people be safe and be there for the next St. Patrick's Day. Thank you everybody. With that, I'll turn it over to Commissioner Jackie Bray.

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Also, we want to make sure that people are paying attention to possible road closings. You heard about the commercial ban. One second, please. We were talking about banks a couple hours ago. I have to shift my mindset. We're talking about snowbanks. Not New York State banks, at this point.

But keep an eye out for all the messaging on travel bans. As we announced, I'm going to reiterate, there is a State of Emergency beginning at 8:00 p.m. tonight. Also, you heard about what's going to happen on our major highways, but we'll be watching very closely, and I know my team is planning on middle of the night conversations about what the morning is going to look like in terms of whether or not there will be local road closures. And that's something we do with our local partners as well. Everybody needs to be tuning into the news, however way you absorb your news content.