Audio & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Announces State of Emergency as Lake Effect Snowstorm Hits New York

Audio & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Announces State of Emergency as Lake Effect Snowstorm Hits New York

Earlier today, Governor Hochul was a guest on Spectrum News to announce a State of Emergency in response to significant lake effect snow. The State of Emergency was effective as of 3:00 PM in Allegany, Erie, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Genesee, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Oswego, St. Lawrence and Wyoming Counties.

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

A rush transcript is available below:

Jackson Wang, Spectrum: Hi Governor. Good afternoon. Thank you so much for your time today. We appreciate it. With the snow already starting to come down, what more can we expect over these next several hours and days here in those certain parts of New York that's affected to see several feet of snow?

Governor Hochul: Well, this is something that we're very accustomed to - these lake effect snows. I'm a Western New Yorker myself, so it's all about taking steps to be ready for the worst. We are expecting to see some heavy snowfall over the next couple of days - could lead to some significant accumulation in Western New York, as well as, even the city of Buffalo could be 4 to 6 inches. Chautauqua and Southern Erie, three to four feet. And in the North Country could actually be up to six feet in Watertown. So anticipating that I've already declared a State of Emergency for Allegany, Erie Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Genesee, Herkimer, Lewiston, and Jefferson Counties, and St. Lawrence Counties. This gives us the ability to assist more with local snow plowing and removal of any debris or helping with the utility lines. We're very much involved with our local communities. But again, this is a very serious storm. People have gotten a little complacent because the fall and the winter thus far have been pretty mild. But I want everyone to take this seriously.

And also I want to announce that we have a tandem and empty trailer ban getting just in a few minutes at three o'clock today. And that's all the way from the Pennsylvanian line to Interstate 390 through I-90 to exit 53 and also 219 to the Pennsylvania line. That's to make sure that we don't end up with overturned vehicles, which can be really dangerous. And as we've seen before, can literally paralyze our main roads or the New York State Thruway.

This is a common lake effect storm for us, but we're encouraging everybody to keep monitoring. And I have done my part to make sure that we have National Guard on standby. We have almost 6,000 utility crews ready to restore power if necessary. The good news may be that we don't expect the high winds that would normally bring power lines down. That's pretty much on the minds of Yorkers as we head into a very busy travel weekend - one of the busiest of the year.

Jackson Wang, Spectrum: Besides that empty trailer ban that's going to be going in effect in just a few minutes, what other precautions are the state gonna be taking over these next few days?

Governor Hochul: It's all about the pre-deployment. We already have over 4,000 DOT and Thruway workers ready. 2,100 plows and 126,000 tons of salt. And again, with the National Guard ready to go - we have already activated our emergency operations center starting at 7:00 AM today. And again, I've been in contact with our county leaders. County Executive Poloncarz and I have already spoken. I spoke to the County Manager for-the Chairman in Jefferson County to talk about what's happening in the North Country and reaching out to our other county leaders as well. So they've been in constant communication with us.

So as I said before, "We are so accustomed to this kind of storm." We don't love it, but it is part of who we are as New Yorkers, especially Western New York and the North Country. And we're ready to be ready for any scenario. And again, what's on people's mind in Western New York is snow in the football game on Sunday, a very important game for the Bills. And we can have a chance to clinch our division, which we really want to do and make sure that people can get easily in and out of the stadium. I already spoke to the owner of the Bills to make sure that they have a mechanism to get the players to the game as well. We anticipate Orchard Park will get a lot of snow, but fortunately it'll be tapering off well before game time on Sunday night.

Jackson Wang, Spectrum: I know a lot of Bills fans like to hear that, knowing that the game will be on for Sunday night. Now, with Thanksgiving in the rear view mirror, a lot of New Yorkers are going to be traveling these next few days, whether going home or going to the Bills game on Sunday. What are your advice for those people that are going to be hitting the roads for those destinations?

Governor Hochul: Plan for anything that could happen, including your vehicle going off the road. Make sure you have plenty of gas in your tanks. Have supplies in your car. Make sure your phone is well charged and you know if you want to pack some Thanksgiving leftovers just in case you get stuck for a little while it's probably a good idea as well. Keep an eye on the forecast if you're on the roads and again we have seen major storms before but just the timing of this-at a time-and the confluence of the high holiday travel people want to get back home between Friday and Sunday and the storm that's coming it is going to create some dangerous conditions.

Jackson Wang, Spectrum: We have been speaking with Governor Kathy Hochul about lake effect snow that is going to be hitting Western and Northern New York where it's going to be measured not in inches but in feet in some communities along Lake Erie as well as Lake Ontario. Governor, thank you so much for your time this afternoon.

Governor Hochul: Alright, thank you everybody. Be safe, and go Bills.