Audio & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul is a Guest on Spectrum to Update New Yorkers on Winter Weather

Earlier today, Governor Hochul was a guest on Spectrum to update New Yorkers on winter weather.

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

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

Krystal Cole, Spectrum: Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency for counties affected by this winter storm, and she's joining us now over the phone to give us the latest on the efforts to combat Mother Nature. Governor, thanks for taking the time today.

Governor Hochul: Well, thank you and thank you for helping all of our residents understand how important it is to be in tune with news outlets so they can prepare and manage their travel and hopefully stay home. But, knowledge is power and especially during what can be a very dangerous weather event. So I appreciate all you're doing.

And I did declare a State of Emergency in 35 counties. This is going to be a broad based weather event starting in just a couple of hours. And as you know, it's going to include New York City and Long Island and Westchester and Hudson Valley, but really over Central New York, Mohawk Valley, Southern Tier, Capital Region.

So this has almost every area the state covered under now a State of Emergency, which is also an important signal that we need people to be paying attention to what is happening over the next 24 hours.

Krystal Cole, Spectrum: And obviously, Governor, this is a big travel time for people following the Christmas holiday. So what is the State doing to help?

Governor Hochul: We are doing a lot. We've been preparing for the storm since the very first forecast. Grateful that it didn't occur on the heavy travel days leading up to Christmas - the day before - certainly would've been more devastating. And, there's a little bit of a lull right now where people are hopefully at the destination where they were traveling to, or they're back home again from their Christmas celebration.

So we're hoping that people will be able to stay clear of the roads and again, not being a work day and heading into the weekend is really an advantage. So I don't take for granted any of those dynamics, but it's going to be challenging on our roads and we really hope that people will not be on the roads.

But in anticipation of this, we've deployed thousands of highway crews, personnel, the trucks, the salting trucks - you'll see them on the roads and we ask people to stay clear of them. But also even deploying and having at the ready utility crews - 5,000 people who are ready to restore power, if we end up with a situation we've seen far too often where there's power outages like when the utility lines come down or trees take them down.

And so we're very concerned, especially with the really frigid temperatures that anybody left for any amount of time without their heat and light. It could be life threatening. So we're prepared for that, working with all 35 counties, their emergency management teams and ready to deploy resources anywhere and everywhere we need to.

Krystal Cole, Spectrum: And like you were saying, the state is preparing, but is there a message you have for anyone that is planning to drive on the roadways today?

Governor Hochul: I hope that they will do what we learned a long time ago coming from Buffalo. Your vehicle can also be what saves your life if you get stranded often during heavy blowing conditions, there's whiteouts - people end up in a ditch for any length of time, and you have to know that if you have preparations, you have extra blankets, you have water with you, you have flashlights, you have cell phone chargers with you. Think about if you're traveling with children, what that worst case scenario would look like and how you could prepare for it.

And so those are the kind of precautions we're asking people to take just in case that frightening event does occur, and so we're telling people, stay off the road. But if you have to travel, have the -- we used to have cat litter in the back of our vehicles because if you needed to have the traction under your tires to try and get out of a ditch, you could use that or a small shovel, we used to travel with as well.

So, these are all just smart things to do, but again, I'm just asking if you could avoid travel until this weather event is over by mid-morning or early afternoon - it'd be much safer and it allows our plows to do their jobs as well. We don't want people to be stuck on impassable roads because we weren't able to get the plows where they needed to go.

Krystal Cole, Spectrum: And what would you recommend people keep an eye on in the coming days amid the snowfall? I know you mentioned the possibility of power outages.

Governor Hochul: Right. Power outage is the main concern. But also I'm asking people to look out for their neighbors. There's a lot of people that are in their homes with older individuals, or a young family with children. If we do end up with a paralyzing snow event, and I'm not saying this will be in that category, but we've also seen - we've had predictions of a certain amount, maybe eight to 10 or 12 inches of snow and it rapidly changes into something where you end up with two feet of snow or in Buffalo, we've actually had a seven foot snow event just a few years back. So, I'm always fearing the knowledge that Mother Nature - we try to predict what she's going to do, but she does not always telegraph us in advance the plans, and so people just need to be alert. Continue monitoring news reports from your station and radio if you're in your vehicles. And I think that's the smartest thing. Just stay on top of the news. Look out for your neighbors. And again, please stay home if there's any way possible.

Krystal Cole, Spectrum: Of course. And you're from Western New York, so you had your fair share of snow days in your time and snowy weather - any last piece of advice for New Yorkers.

Governor Hochul: We will get through it. New Yorkers, we're tough, we're resilient, and this is a chance to introduce your kids to some sledding or just stay home and make a couple extra batches of cookies or send some thank you notes. Yeah, this is a nice time just to have those final lingering hours with your family before the crazy, hectic, normal lives intervene. So maybe just use this as an opportunity to just share final hours with your loved ones and not necessarily be outside on the road. So, that would be my final advice.

Krystal Cole, Spectrum: Well, Governor, thank you so much for your time and for that advice, and thank you for joining us.

Governor Hochul: Alright, thank you very much. Bye-bye.

Contact the Governor's Press Office