New York City Officials Hold A Press Briefing Ahead Of Heavy Rain That Will Impact The Area
New York City officials held a press briefing on Friday ahead of a storm that is expected to bring more rain.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Good afternoon.
00:04 My name is Sheena Wright.
00:05 I'm the first Deputy Mayor and I want to first start out by saying we have all been in constant
00:10 communication with the Mayor as he travels abroad.
00:14 We have with us today Fabian Levy, our Deputy Mayor for Communications; Mira Joshi, our
00:19 Deputy Mayor for Operations; Zach Iskell, our Commissioner for New York City Emergency
00:24 Management; Idones Rodriguez, our Commissioner for the Department of Transportation; and
00:29 Laura Kavanagh, our Commissioner for the Fire Department.
00:33 This briefing is to let New York City know that we are preparing for periods of potentially
00:38 heavy rain from around 2 a.m. tonight through Saturday afternoon.
00:45 According to the latest forecast from the National Weather Service, New Yorkers should
00:49 expect anywhere from one and a half to two and a half inches of rain or more citywide
00:57 with a potential for three to four inches in some areas as the city of the city as conditions
01:04 shift.
01:06 We are encouraging New Yorkers to plan ahead as the ground is still saturated from last
01:11 week's heavy rain, which could result in potentially significant flooding and travel disruptions
01:18 in typical flood prone areas.
01:22 Our city is taking action to protect all New Yorkers, including, if necessary, rescuing
01:29 those in need of help.
01:31 Every single one of our agencies has an emergency plan and we are executing those plans.
01:38 We are ready and you should be as well.
01:41 Here are some things that you New Yorkers should and can do.
01:46 Please be alert to your surroundings and be cautious.
01:50 If you live in a flood prone area or a basement apartment, remove your belongings from the
01:55 floor and be prepared to move to a higher area.
02:00 Since this is happening overnight, you might be asleep, so you should be preparing now.
02:05 Allow for extra travel time and use public transportation.
02:10 If you must drive, please drive slowly and use major streets and highways if possible.
02:17 Do not drive into flooded areas or streets or go into flooded subway stations.
02:25 Six inches of moving water can knock over an adult, so try not to step into flood water
02:31 if you see it.
02:33 Call 911 for help in case of an emergency.
02:37 For non-urgent issues, call 311.
02:40 Check on your friends, relatives, neighbors, especially the elderly and those with health
02:45 conditions and please sign up for NotifyNYC.
02:51 It will give you regular updates about traffic, transit disruptions, as well as other notifications.
02:59 You can sign up by calling 311, visiting nyc.gov/notifynyc or by following NotifyNYC on Twitter.
03:12 Additionally, as we are preparing for potential significant flooding tonight and tomorrow,
03:17 our teams have been hard at work recovering from last week's historic flooding as well.
03:23 As you'll recall, we had to temporarily transfer all patients from NYC Health and Hospital's
03:28 Woodhull Hospital to allow for electrical repairs.
03:33 Thanks to our team's effort, those repairs are completed.
03:38 The hospital will resume operations tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. for emergency and labor
03:43 delivery units, and the rest of the hospital will start accepting patients on Tuesday morning.
03:49 I'll close with this.
03:51 In this time of man-made climate crisis, flash floods and other climate events are a part
03:57 of our reality.
03:59 This is, in fact, the new normal.
04:01 In addition to emergency preparedness, we are also taking long-term and immediate steps
04:07 to lessen the harm caused by these emergencies.
04:11 We are tackling the issue at its source by reducing our city's impact on the planet,
04:17 and we must continue to draw down emissions, reduce waste, build resiliency, and innovate
04:23 for a greener and more sustainable future.
04:27 We want to stay safe, and we will if we work together.
04:31 I'm going to first introduce Commissioner Iskal to give us a full, detailed update.
04:38 Great.
04:40 Thank you, First Deputy Mayor.
04:45 Here in the City of New York, the safety of all New Yorkers is our highest priority, and
04:50 we're taking comprehensive, coordinated steps to mitigate the impact of this weather
04:54 situation over this evening into tomorrow.
04:57 Yesterday, we activated our Flash Flood Emergency Plan, which involves the concerted efforts
05:03 of multiple city agencies, including partners from the state and the federal government
05:08 like the National Weather Service.
05:10 Here in the city, that includes the Fire Department, NYPD, Department of Environmental Protection,
05:15 Sanitation, DOT, and more.
05:18 Together we work to ensure a seamless response to flash flood emergencies.
05:22 Our Emergency Operations Center is already fully functional and is serving as a hub for
05:27 strategic and efficient allocation of resources across our great city.
05:32 The Flash Flood Emergency Steering Committee has been convened to act as the central coordinating
05:37 body for interagency preparedness.
05:39 This is what we do every time that we activate the Flash Flood Plan.
05:44 This committee is planning, executing, and overseeing the tasks required to address this
05:49 weather threat.
05:51 Our agencies from the Department of Environmental Protection, Sanitation, Transportation are
05:55 already on the ground clearing catch basins, particularly in areas that we know flood regularly.
06:02 This is crucial to preventing rainwater from causing major disruptions.
06:07 In terms of public awareness, the city is boosting hazard consciousness through specific
06:10 public warnings and advisories.
06:13 Vital information concerning safety precautions, available resources, and key city actions
06:19 are being communicated through multiple city agencies.
06:23 This is to ensure that New Yorkers are informed and prepared for the upcoming wet weather
06:27 conditions.
06:29 We strongly urge all New Yorkers to take safety measures seriously.
06:32 If you have to travel, please use public transportation.
06:35 If you must drive, please use major streets or highways and drive carefully and cautiously.
06:41 If you must travel tonight and tomorrow, expect and plan for delays.
06:46 One specific area of concern we are actively addressing is the safety of our residents
06:50 and basement apartments.
06:52 These spaces are uniquely vulnerable to flooding, and we are taking this issue very seriously.
06:57 If you find yourself in a dangerous situation in a basement apartment, please call, leave,
07:04 and call 911 immediately.
07:05 Do not hesitate to do this.
07:08 Our emergency management team has been focused on disseminating information tailored for
07:11 residents in these lower-level living spaces.
07:15 We've gone beyond merely sending out warnings.
07:17 We've engaged in canvassing and organized an event over the summer citywide that specifically
07:22 targeted people who live in basements and in these areas.
07:26 To further assist, we've also created a specialized NotifyNYC subgroup for basement
07:30 apartments.
07:31 This will provide key updates that are particularly resonant if you live in a basement space.
07:35 To sign up, you can go to nyc.gov/notify or you can call 311.
07:41 The increasing urgency of recent weather events highlight that climate change is here, and
07:45 it is a now issue.
07:47 We're maximizing every resource to bolster New York City's resilience against climate-related
07:51 threats.
07:52 While major projects are underway, it's crucial for every New Yorker to stay informed and
07:57 take action.
07:58 NotifyNYC, as the first deputy mayor said, is our free emergency notification system.
08:03 This system allows us to send you real-time, crucial information about weather updates
08:08 or other emergencies.
08:09 If you haven't signed up yet, now's the time.
08:12 You can go to nyc.gov/notifyNYC.
08:15 You can call 311 or download the app.
08:18 It's available in 14 languages, including American Sign Language.
08:21 You can also follow us on Twitter @NotifyNYC.
08:25 Thank you and be safe.
08:28 Thank you, Commissioner Iskal.
08:30 Next up we have our commissioner for the Fire Department, Commissioner Kavanaugh.
08:36 Thank you and good afternoon.
08:38 I want to talk a little bit about what the Fire Department has on every day as a redundancy
08:42 for emergencies and storms like this and what specific resources we have for this storm.
08:47 So every single day, 24 hours a day, the FDNY has 111 water-trained rescue units that are
08:53 in service.
08:54 They're trained in cold water rescues and have exposure suits, buoys, and life preserves.
09:00 We also have five rescue companies, eight squad units for a total of 68 members who
09:04 are always working, who are trained in advanced water rescue techniques.
09:08 These include the skills for some of the more dangerous operations that we see in rivers
09:12 and swift water.
09:14 To deal with wind and tree events, we have 143 ladder companies on 24/7 that are equipped
09:19 with chainsaws and can aid with downed trees if wind comes along with the rain.
09:24 If needed, we can activate that task force at any time, and we will be working with our
09:28 partners in OEM to decide if we need to activate that for this storm at any point.
09:33 We also have six high-axle vehicles available.
09:36 Three of them were in service for last week's storm and will likely be for this week's storm
09:40 as we monitor the weather.
09:42 They are the vehicles that help us rescue, especially those motorists who get stranded
09:46 in flash floods.
09:48 We also have three on-duty SOC units with additional chainsaws if needed, and we are
09:52 staffed and ready to go in dispatch and also have a redundancy plan for upstaffing in dispatch
09:58 if we end up getting more calls during these storms.
10:01 We are definitely prepared and ready to go and continuing to monitor this storm and can
10:05 adjust our specialized resources as necessary as the storm unfolds.
10:09 Thank you.
10:10 Thank you, Commissioner Kavanagh.
10:13 Next up, we have Deputy Mayor Mira Doshi.
10:19 Good afternoon.
10:20 I want to just take a step back for a moment and talk about where we are and where we have
10:26 to go.
10:27 This was the hottest summer since global records began in 1880 and the wettest September
10:32 in New York City in 140 years.
10:36 Floods that could be expected to occur once every 500 years now take place every 100 years.
10:43 100-year storms take place every 20 years.
10:47 As the Deputy Mayor responsible for this city's infrastructure and operating agencies, our
10:53 team is on the front lines of shoring up our city's foundation against the critical damage
10:59 of climate change.
11:01 Excessive heat, torrential rain, high tides, pollution.
11:05 Today the focus is water, and to fight water, we have to handle more of it and more unpredictable
11:12 times.
11:13 Our sewer system cannot do it alone.
11:15 Although we've added 125 miles, this administration has added 125 miles to our 7,000 miles and
11:23 more of sewer.
11:25 Like so many cities across the globe, we must become more absorbent.
11:30 We must become a sponge.
11:32 That takes many forms.
11:33 Small, immediately small areas that we green so they absorb water in storms, to large places,
11:40 ponds, and wetlands that can absorb large quantities of water in a storm, to playgrounds
11:47 that double as holding tanks to hold water.
11:50 These are all throughout our city, and we have plans to really engage in broadening
11:56 our footprint of an absorbent New York City.
11:58 We've added 10,000 linear feet of porous pavement, and as Ida taught us so many lessons, we took
12:06 them and we've completed a vast majority of the recommendations in the post-Ida report,
12:12 and we're going beyond with even broader and bolder plans to make our city resilient in
12:17 our plan NYC and our rainfall ready reports.
12:21 But we really need two essential tools.
12:25 One funding, and two construction delivery.
12:28 We've invested over 300 million in resiliency.
12:32 We've got applications out for another 200 million from the federal government, but we
12:36 have to competitively compete each time we ask for money.
12:40 And unlike housing, transportation, and social services, we don't have reliable formula federal
12:46 dollars that come to us year after year.
12:49 It's time we change that and really prioritize resiliency across the nation, and especially
12:54 in our urban centers.
12:56 And two, the delivery tools.
12:58 How to build better, faster, and higher quality.
13:02 Working with controller Brad Lander, we've been lobbying Albany to get the authority
13:06 to get those delivery tools that will allow us to do this work faster, cheaper, and deliver
13:12 for New Yorkers.
13:13 So we're confident with both the plans that we have, our pursuit in getting the tools
13:19 that we need, we will be able to keep New Yorkers and continue to keep New Yorkers sound,
13:25 safe, and dry.
13:26 Thank you very much.
13:31 Thank you.
13:32 Next up, I think we have Yocarina Duarte, the Chief of Staff to the Commissioner of
13:40 Emergency Management.
13:42 Thank you.
13:45 So this message is in Spanish, so for the Spanish speakers, a press.
13:50 [Spanish]
14:12 [Spanish]
14:33 [Spanish]
14:55 [Spanish]
15:16 [Spanish]
15:38 [Spanish]
16:03 Gracias.
16:07 Thank you.
16:08 I think Fabian now, we're going to take some questions.
16:09 I have two questions, actually.
16:10 The first, I know there was talk about an after action report after IHIP, and I'm wondering,
16:11 has there been one after last week's storm?
16:12 What lessons has the city learned in terms of messaging, other preparedness issues?
16:13 Is that being put into action this week?
16:31 We are actively preparing an after action review, which we traditionally do after any
16:37 incident.
16:38 And so that is absolutely in progress and going back to look at other reports, what
16:42 we have done, as Deputy Mayor Joshi said, many of the recommendations from the IHIP
16:47 report have actually been completed by this administration.
16:50 And we're continuing to follow up on the other things that we need to do as we move
16:55 forward.
16:56 The second question is, I guess, you know, there's all this resilience that's working,
17:01 you're waiting for grants.
17:02 You know, what is a New Yorker to do when, you know, the Browns River Parkway, for example,
17:08 which flooded, people got trapped after Ida, they got trapped last week.
17:12 You're driving along, this storm is happening.
17:15 At what point should people expect things like that to be fixed?
17:21 I'll take some of it.
17:25 I mean, some of it is preparedness, right?
17:27 So we do travel advisories, and we warn people about traveling in inclement weather.
17:34 In low lying areas, it's particularly difficult.
17:37 And so it's a combination of the resiliency work that we've done.
17:41 And we have a few examples recently in the Rockaways, and in downtown Brooklyn, where
17:47 we've changed the sewer work.
17:49 We've done work around making the areas more absorbent.
17:52 And when this most recent flooding, those neighborhoods saw a marked difference.
17:56 So it makes a difference when we do the work, and we're determined to pick up the pace of
18:01 the work and ensure that we're doing that work across the boroughs, but really zoning
18:05 in in the areas that are the most vulnerable.
18:08 And just also, as Deputy Mayor Joshi said, it takes too long to get the work done.
18:14 So we've got to cut out all of the unnecessary steps, and we have plans in place to do that,
18:20 but we need help from Albany.
18:22 And we also have to appreciate that our infrastructure is hundreds of years old.
18:26 So it's not going to be fixed overnight.
18:28 So we're going to continue to have these problems in the short term, but we can fix them more
18:32 quickly if we can get through some of the bureaucratic challenges that we currently
18:36 face.
18:37 But just in the meantime, what's the message to New Yorkers?
18:43 There are preparedness, but there are short term actions we take, like the rain gardens
18:47 that we put out.
18:48 They may look like nothing, but in quantity, they make a difference.
18:51 Making sure that the catch basins are clear.
18:53 So bringing back alternate side of the street parking did a lot to ensure that those catch
18:57 basins are clear.
18:58 But do your part.
18:59 You know, throwing trash down a catch basin is actually very harmful for us and more than
19:04 just the littering.
19:06 Making sure your gutters are clean and your household's taken care of.
19:09 And DOT does a tremendous amount of work working with DEP to prepare in advance for those areas
19:16 where we can expect flooding and try to move traffic away from them.
19:21 So we have to do a lot of short term fixes as the long term are in progress, but it's
19:26 continuous movement towards understanding that as a city, we have to be able to absorb
19:31 more water.
19:32 Thanks, guys.
19:33 Thank you, everybody.
19:39 [Applause]