Governor Hochul Updates New Yorkers on Extreme Weather

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul updated New Yorkers on extreme weather.

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.

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

Good afternoon. Tropical storm Beryl continues to be barreling throughout the State of New York. We have just entered the third hour of what is going to be at least a 10-hour major storm event. I want to take a couple minutes to lay out the risks that we're seeing, some of the weather events that have already happened, and what we're anticipating over this next day. And also talk about the State resources that we've already deployed.

Today's weather is what we call a triple header. Three major concerns. First of all, thunderstorm and tornado threats, but also reports of touching down in places in Chautauqua County, Silver Creek, as well as the town of Eden — which is right near my hometown of Hamburg, so, I know exactly what that area is all about. It's a more rural area — as it's heading into East Aurora. So, I've already been in communication with the county executives of Chautauqua County, as well as Erie County to find if there's any resources they need. They're out there currently assessing the damage from what are likely to be tornadoes, but that will not be actually confirmed until tomorrow.

So, there are multiple warnings going out from this area, but I have to warn everyone myself, because it goes all the way on a map from Jamestown up to Plattsburgh, literally dissecting the entire State of New York. Everything North of there is under a tornado watch. This is highly unusual weather for this time of year, or actually any time of year for the State of New York, so we must be vigilant.

Listen to the cell phone alerts that are going off on your cell phones from the National Weather Service. Take them seriously. We've already seen homes that have been flattened, images of streets and roads, power lines are down — that's occurring in real time right now and it could be coming your way depending on what part of the State you're in.

So please take it very seriously. Also, we’re seeing the impacts of this storm heading towards the North Country with high volumes of heavy rain. And we anticipate there'll be flash flooding, which occurs very quickly — especially dangerous for homes and businesses that are along the waterways and the many streams and rivers that we have in the North Country.

And right now, we're expecting to see the same level — the same risk level — that happened last year in the Catskill area — Highland Falls — when we had a 1,000-year flooding event, which was rather cataclysmic. Much destruction to the downtown area as well as neighboring homes. And so, the rainfall accumulates, it saturates the ground, and then we expect massive flooding.

So, this rainfall should stop around 10 p.m. tonight, but the risk of flooding continues into tomorrow. And if that's not enough — 1, 2, 3 — we can now have extreme heat on top of it all. It's not as dangerous as last month's heatwave because we don't think they're going to continue over the course of a week — but we're seeing it in places like even Ithaca in the summertime, which is usually a pretty mild time of year for places in upstate New York.

It's a 106 degree real-feel on your skin. So, in New York City, the temperature will feel like 97 degrees. The challenge also is the power outages, either from the down lines from the tornadoes or from the heavy rains or from the high winds. So, these all provide a major public health risk for us right now. So we're prepared.

My teams have communicated with every single emergency management team at the county level. I've been in contact with many county executives and mayors as well, throughout the morning and the early afternoon. Our emergency operations is open, led by Commissioner Jackie Bray. We also brought in personnel from multiple state agencies: State Police, Thruway Authority, DOT, DEC — others who are prepared to really cut up the limbs that may be falling on roads and taking down the power lines with them and creating very hazardous conditions.

So, 4,000 road workers from the DOT and Thruway, 6,000 utility workers who are already being deployed, but are prepared to go anywhere in the State to restore power as soon as possible.

We're not expecting a long duration before restoration occurs, but one never knows. So, everyone should be ready with their own flashlights and ways to keep cool and know where your county cooling centers are in the event that you're in a high temperature area and you lose your power.

We also have our nine swift water rescue teams prepared to be activated from the DEC. As I mentioned, the State Police are ready to help with traffic. So again, this is what New Yorkers need to do: stay vigilant. Do not assume that you can go out in your vehicle in one of these major storm events, especially in the areas of high flooding. It only takes two feet of water on the ground that can sweep your vehicle away and take you into a very dangerous situation and possible loss of life.

So, flash flooding alerts will continue. Have a “go bag” ready in case you need to evacuate, especially if you're anticipating the conditions that are just continuing to deteriorate. Batteries, flashlights, food, medicine, and talk to your family about where you'll go if you need to evacuate.

And if there's other specific warnings related to if a tornado is coming to your area as well, we're providing that information. So, we will get through this together. New Yorkers, we always do, but remember, it's not just you and your family, you have neighbors. Look out for individuals — our senior citizens who are very vulnerable.

Make sure you take care of your pets. And again, this is a triple — a trifecta — storm that's hitting us right now as we speak, and I'm going to continue giving updates throughout the day and afternoon. My team is out there as well. So, just want to remind all New Yorkers, stay safe and continue monitoring the situation very closely.