Governor Kathy Hochul Was a Guest on Spectrum News

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul was a guest on Spectrum News. The Governor updated New Yorkers on extreme weather and the state’s preparedness against the lake effect snow expected to impact Thanksgiving travel. The forecast is set to impact Western New York, Central New York, the Mohawk Valley and the North Country beginning today and continuing through Saturday, November 29.

AUDIO: The Governor’s remarks are available in audio form here.

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

Marisa Jacques, Spectrum News: Governor Hochul with more on how New York State is getting set. Governor, welcome. Thanks for joining us. Happy Thanksgiving. And I have to ask you, are you preparing any differently for a storm like this knowing that so many people are going to be on the roads traveling for the holiday?

Governor Hochul: That's exactly the point. Ordinarily and certainly in a few months, one to two feet of snow accumulation over a couple days is not something we have to be so concerned about. But, number one, it is the first major storm of the season, which sends chills through everybody — literally and figuratively. They're not used to it, but at some point we get hardwired to be used to it, but we're not there yet.

But also, you're absolutely right about the travel. I mean of all the days for this to hit, starting Wednesday, which is the busiest travel day of the year. And our roads will be icy, they'll be blowing — could be 30, 40 miles an hour statewide, but even up to 60 miles an hour in some of our localized areas. That creates visibility concerns, blizzard-like conditions. Trees can come down because there's still a lot of leaves on the trees — this is what we see in the fall events — and power outages. So all this could happen. So I think it's all about being proactive and planning for this. And if you have to travel for the holidays, get on the road as early as you can tomorrow, be at your destination before the storm hits and also just take all these precautions.

So that's exactly why I'm on. I think ordinarily if it's one to two feet, we know we can handle it. But it’s that first one, and it's the heavy, heavy travel time that is raising concern, and why we're taking so many steps in advance and have been preparing literally for days for this.

Casey Bortnick, Spectrum News: Governor, I want to talk particularly about tomorrow because we do know the good news here is that most of the state — at least as far as tomorrow — the weather won't be too difficult, and that's when most people will be at least traveling to their destination.

But it's after tomorrow — it's the days following that we're really concerned about here. What areas specifically are you watching? What areas are you worried about the most? Or is it just a wait and see approach depending on how this all shakes up?

Governor Hochul: No, we're watching closely. I just had another one of my many briefings on this from our emergency management team. Thursday evening in Western New York will be the most intense snow — more like the rest of the state, Central New York, and Mohawk Valley and the North Country more Friday. But Thursday evening — think about it, you're driving home from your parents or grandparents' house for Thanksgiving dinner. That's when the Thruway could be really in trouble. When you think about how many more vehicles are on the road on a Thanksgiving evening. And so I don't know if people are going to adjust their schedules at all, but I would certainly think that's something that people should consider is to know that you could be going into the brunt of the storm as you're leaving your dinner.

And again, I'm going to say be careful about alcohol consumption. It's nice to celebrate the holidays, but also being on the roads with those icy, blizzardy conditions — you’ve had a couple of drinks; could be, really, a recipe for disaster as well. So we just have to be smart about it. And those are the two most intense periods of time we expect in different parts of the state.

But I'm also — with the windchills in the teens that are concerning. If your car goes off the road, I'm always telling people, “Stock up your car for winter travel. Have everything you need. It's the flashlight. It's the extra blankets. It's a charger for your phone.” All these things we need to know and keep water and some food with you because this is just the start of what can be a really long, cold, windy, blizzardy season.

And, again, I'm a Western New Yorker. We're not phased by this at all. I remember many holidays of traveling in those blizzard conditions back from Thanksgiving dinner. But I just really worry about everybody's safety. I want them to have a wonderful, healthy and safe holiday season.

Marisa Jacques, Spectrum News: Governor Hochul, with regard to supplies. Obviously we saw truckloads of salt coming in, so I don't think that will necessarily be a concern, being that it's so early in the season here. But in terms of — listen, people don't want to work on the holidays, but getting people to different parts of the state, getting snow plow drivers out and getting people in case we lose electricity and power. How much of that has already happened and will happen over the next 24, 48 hours, getting people in place?

Governor Hochul: Our people are already positioning, and I'm grateful for those who will be giving up the Thanksgiving dinner with their own families — it's our statewide DOT. We have over 3,500 supervisors and operators. We have about 1,600, 1,700 plow trucks, and other trucks, and loaders and graders, and we have the Thruway Authority equipment and their staff of over 677 people there — 338 trucks with that effort. We have a lot of salt on hand, about 131,000 pounds — or tons, I should say — of salt. But also, we have utility workers. This is something I know many times as a parent living out in Hamburg. Living in that snow belt area, when the power went out and we didn't have a generator, it got really, really cold and you're just praying that the power goes back on, that the workers can come out safely, and restore the warmth and heat to your homes. It's everything.

So we have 5,500 utility workers already available statewide to respond and assess any damage, and repair and restore as soon as humanly possible. That is always my top priority having lived through this so many times as a Western New Yorker.

Casey Bortnick, Spectrum News: Right. Before we let you go, Governor, real quick. We just had an anniversary pass of the 2014 November storm. I was out in Western New York during that time, and I know you remember that well. We're not looking at a situation necessarily like that, but lake effect snow is just so unpredictable that you better take precautions in a situation like this even if you don't think you're going to get a snow event quite like that, correct?

Governor Hochul: Casey, that's everything, and that's why I'm speaking to you, asking everybody to be extra careful because, again, we think we're tough, we can get through it, but the band shifts so quickly. First of all, you think it's fine if it hits the snow country, but then it starts getting closer to the first ring suburbs. Whether it's getting closer to Syracuse — I think the city of Syracuse is going to take a hit, we don't know if Buffalo will. We've seen how cities have been paralyzed by unprecedented amounts of snow that shift.

All the predictors and all the technology we use to identify where we think it's going to happen. So many times, Mother Nature just changes her mind. And that's when we can't be caught off guard. People have got to be ready for that possibility, be listening to warnings and taking precautions. But above all, if you can just stay home. Just stay home over the next couple days, cook the dinner, clean up the dishes and play with the kids — that'd be a much safer time to do it.

But it's not just Thanksgiving dinner. We've seen the stores, and the malls and the downtowns are mobbed on Black Friday, right? That's another day when people are accustomed to being on the roads. And so I just really want people to be smart about monitoring the weather. If it looks like the weather is shifting toward your area with some intensity, that is absolutely a time to stay home. You can always shop and catch up with others a couple days later because it will clear up.

Marisa Jacques, Spectrum News: Absolutely. Stay home and hopefully stay safe. Governor Kathy Hochul, happy Thanksgiving to you and your family and we appreciate the time.

Governor Hochul: Happy Thanksgiving to everyone as well. Thank you both. Bye-bye.

Marisa Jacques, Spectrum News: Thank you so much.