Readying New York City for hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, and 7-foot snowstorms

In a bid to enhance emergency preparedness and bolster flood response capabilities, the administration of Governor Hochul in New York has taken significant strides. The state has invested $50 million in purchasing flood response equipment, including generators, pumps, flood barriers, and temporary flood barriers.

This investment is part of a broader initiative to reduce the impact of natural disasters. The state has also been working on enhancing public information on flood and storm risks, improving emergency preparedness, and promoting community resilience initiatives. Statewide infrastructure projects and updated hazard maps have been key components of these efforts to mitigate flooding.

New York faces significant coastal flooding in areas like Long Island and New York City, as well as intense inland flooding in regions such as the Hudson Valley, Southern Tier, and Mohawk Valley due to intense rain and river flooding.

The Commissioner of the State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, Jackie Bray, oversees the state's emergency management services. Bray works closely with local and county governments on flood response, fires, blizzards, and hurricanes. The administration has increased the staff at the Office of Emergency Management by 50%, including doubling the field staff.

The state's diverse weather pattern includes landfall hurricanes, 7-foot snowstorms, wildfires, tornadoes, severe storms, and historic blizzards. The No. 1 risk in New York state is flooding, as evidenced by the Suffolk County flood, a rare event with 10 inches of rain falling in just a couple of hours, and the remnants of Hurricanes Beryl and Debbie impacting Lewis County, Lowville in the North Country, and Steuben County.

The Hochul administration has also founded the state Weather Risk Communications Center to translate federal forecasts into actionable information for decision-makers. The center customizes its products based on specific thresholds, such as rainfall rates for New York City's sewers and snowfall rates on the New York State Thruway.

However, the safety of New Yorkers could be at risk if the federal government were to pull back on emergency management funding, as the state had three major floods last year. The federal government currently supports a significant amount of the state's emergency preparedness work, including equipment and training for hazardous chemical leaks, radiological detection, bomb squads, and canine teams.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is considering cuts to federal emergency management funding, which could have a significant negative impact on the safety of New Yorkers. The idea of pulling back on emergency management during a time of increasing natural disasters is counter to the last 20 to 30 years of emergency management in the U.S. No state in the nation could fully backfill the level of disinvestment that the federal government is proposing.

In conclusion, the administration's focus on flood response, through the purchase of $50 million worth of equipment and increased staffing at the Office of Emergency Management, is a crucial step towards enhancing the state's resilience against natural disasters. However, the potential cuts to federal emergency management funding could put the country's emergency preparedness, disaster response, and disaster recovery at risk.

Readying New York City for hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, and 7-foot snowstorms