B-Roll, Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Provides Update on Weekend Flooding in Hudson Valley as State Prepares for Additional Flash Flooding in Northern New York

"Good morning, everyone. Right now, we are in the midst of an extraordinary, extraordinary weather event that has just devastated communities throughout the Hudson Valley. I'm here in Highland Falls, but this is just representative of what we've seen, the devastation we've seen in Rockland and Putnam and other communities where we've seen so often in the last literally nine months, I say nine months because nine months ago the heavens opened up and we had more snow fall in a 24-hour period in the State of New York than had happened in history. Literally a few weeks ago, we saw the skies again, bring upon us some of the most unhealthy air from the fires just north of here in Canada that we've seen in a generation.

And once again, the skies opened up and brought so much rain, nine inches of rain in this community that they're calling this a 1,000-year event. It's only the second time ever, but the National Weather Service issued a flash flood emergency. The last time was Hurricane Ida. My friends, this is the new normal. And we in government working with our partners on the ground, have to work with our communities to build up resiliency, to be prepared for the worst because the worst continues to happen. You only need to walk through the streets and see the pain in people's eyes as they described to me, their loss, their fear, their anxiety.

You meet Kathy, who was literally rescued out of her senior apartment by brave crews that came all the way from West Point, not going to foreign lands to save people, but right here in their own backyard, and I am so grateful to everyone from West Point for stepping up, I just spoke to the Superintendent and we're there to help them rebuild as well.

We also lost an individual's life, a young woman, 35 years old, who came out seeing that her house was taking on too much water She was with her dog and her fiancé literally saw her swept away - terror, devastation right here less than 24 hours ago. So, I'm joined here by local leaders to give an update on the current situation, what we're anticipating going forward, and what residents need to do together, how we can stand up and using every bit of our power mobilizing to fight the ravages of climate change because again, these are unprecedented weather events that keep hitting us over and over and over again.

So, we must change our behavior as a planet, as a country, as a State, and in our own homes, and we're going to continue that conversation in earnest because we have to know that we have to do everything in our power to protect our citizens.

I'm joined by Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus. He's done an amazing job. I appreciate his coordination. Our teams reached out to him even before the first rain fell and he was ready on the ground, and he'll describe what his teams went through, but I'm grateful to all of them. I'm grateful for our local officials here in the Village of Highland Falls. The Mayor has joined us, Mayor D'Onofrio. We also have our Town of Highlands Supervisor, Bob Livsey. Our local officials, mayors, supervisors, town board members, they're really the front line when an issue like this happens because these are their neighbors, this is where they live. Also, grateful to have the strong support in this moment of need of our State Senator James Skoufis, who has joined us and State Assemblyman Chris Eachus. Both of them are going to continue to be on the ground, providing all the resources we can make available from the State.

I also want to commend the most incredible team of people who are unfortunately so experienced in everything from ice storms in Ulster last year to the blizzards in Buffalo to the unprecedented Weather event creating unhealthy air and once again the flooding.

Commissioner of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, Jackie Bray. I thank you a thousand times over for your dedication and the training you and your members have gone through to be able to help us respond in these times of crisis. DOT Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez, again, we have been through so many battles together and now her teams in real time are assessing literally whether or not there's roads and bridges and culverts that have been compromised despite the fact that they may look clear for passage and they work through the night to make sure we can bring these streets to some sense of normalcy because people needed to get to hospitals and doctors and get to their jobs, and they worked tirelessly, and I'm grateful.

But we have to make sure that before we open up all the roads, that our infrastructure is safe and sound. State Police rescues again, are legendary. Our State Police led by Superintendent Steve Nigrelli, were here on the ground. Our swift water rescue teams here in advance, anticipating the worst, and they were absolutely desperately needed as we saw cars swirling in our streets like this was a river.

So, let's start with what we've seen, who I've spoken to. Just got off the phone with the FEMA Administrator. She has offered all the help necessary. So, the first step is assessment, assess the damage, assess the monetary value of the damage so we can put in our request for FEMA assistance to help the communities have the resources they need to rebuild. Also spoke with the White House, offered assistance in any way possible just minutes ago. Majority Leader Schumer called and said whatever is needed with infrastructure dollars to help the rebuilding. Also, making sure that we let West Point know that the Army Corps of Engineers can be of assistance if there's rebuilding there as well. Senator Gillibrand and I just got off the phone. She's there willing to provide any support to help with FEMA's efforts to return dollars back to our communities. So, we'll be putting in all those requests, working with our local partners to make sure we have an accurate assessment of the cost and the damage done.

We also are dealing with simultaneous issues right now. One is, the weather looks better here, but the extreme weather is continuing north. Rain is hitting Albany. It's also hitting the Champlain area. Fortunately, the bullseye of this storm seems to be moving further east. Unfortunately for the people who live in Vermont, but we're not anticipating this scale of damage in other parts of New York at this time, but that could change.

Again, what we saw here stranded passengers on Amtrak trains, more than 700 people stranded in Putnam County last night. My gratitude to the local teams on the ground to help people find shelter, get them buses. We were deploying buses to get people down to New York City and up to Albany during the heat of the storm.

We also had thousands of workers on the ground to get the power back. I just ran into a couple that's having breakfast at Andy's restaurant. Eddie's cooking up the eggs and bacon right now. They're there because their power's out. They didn't look like they're in a hurry to go home and start messing up their own kitchen so Eddie's going to get a lot of business here today. We might stop in afterward. But you can see his basement is absolutely flooded, but they have the lights on to make sure that people in this community have a place to go for meals because the power is out.

We've been working hard with our utility crews. The key for a storm like this, when you have the advanced notice, you pre-position the emergency crews. That's why we had 9,000 people in this region prepared, 5,000 utility individual workers who could go on the lines, repair the roads and make sure that our power gets back as soon as possible. So, they were very helpful. We also declared a State of Emergency. I spoke to Steve Neuhaus about this yesterday.

We declared a State of Emergency here, as did he, but also in the County of Ontario, where Canandaigua also sustained considerable damage. We'll be visiting there later. Also, let's give further updates on what people should do. We spoke about this. We warned for three days. We talked about it right before it hit. We talked about it during.

Homeowners need to be prepared. You need to think about your escape route. You need to anticipate the worst-case scenario where the flood waters are rising in your home. What are your next steps? Where is your cell phone? Do you have it charged? Where is your flashlight? Do you have the batteries that are fresh in it? Have you made sure that, if in case you are stranded for any length of time, you have food and water and medicine? You're not going to be going to the drug store to fill your prescriptions during this kind of event. So, go over a safety plan with the residents of your home. Remember your pets, remember your neighbors, and make sure that you get to higher ground before it becomes too late.

So, before I turn it over to Steve Neuhaus, I just want to, again, from the bottom of my heart, thank the first responders who came out. And as much as it looks clear today, this was a frightening, life-threatening experience that they just came through. They put their training to use. They did not think about their own safety. They literally went up to cars that were swirling at risk of being washed away, and they knocked, and they made sure someone was safe. They went into homes. They went into apartments. They went into businesses. They were on the ground. So, from the community level on up to our State resources and our State teams, thank you.

Thank you for making a dire situation - as bad as it was, it could have been far worse had we not been ready, had you not been here on the ground, and all the rescue efforts that were underway. So again, when you see the water on a street, don't assume you can drive through it. That is the number one reason people die during a storm is because they drown in their vehicles, two feet of water. Two feet of water, which doesn't seem like that much is enough to sweep a car away, and that's exactly what was happening here just yesterday. So, abandon your vehicles if that happens again. But we've seen a lot. We've been through a lot, but this community and this region is resilient. They will build back, and we'll be there with them every step of the way to make sure they have whatever is necessary to gain some sense of normalcy after this incredible shock to this region.

So, with that, I want to turn the opportunity to speak and address his concerns and what his teams did over the last 24, 48 hours to our County Executive, Steve Neuhaus."

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