Governor Hochul: “We're prepared for this, but we really need New Yorkers to be paying close attention, especially if you're in one of those flash flood risk areas. We have seen communities that have been devastated by storms like this in the past… Today is a triple threat that bears a lot of watching from your viewers today and everyone who's concerned about being out there.”

Hochul: “We have seen thousand-year flooding events come up really unexpectedly. The lesson learned is to be prepared for the unexpected. And that is why we've deployed so many individuals watching carefully, tracking the weather.”

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

AUDIO of the Governor's remarks.

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

Dan Bazile, Spectrum: Western New York has already seen the first pass of severe weather this morning as the remnants of Beryl work their way across Upstate New York today. With that, some areas could see flooding.

Julie Chapman, Spectrum: So joining us right now by phone is Governor Kathy Hochul to talk more about the preparations New York State is taking.

Good morning, Governor. Thanks for joining us this morning. We want to get right to our questions, find out how is the state preparing for this extreme weather?

Governor Hochul: Well, thank you for having me. And yes, Hurricane Beryl is barreling through New York right now and through tomorrow and we are going to be seeing extreme weather events throughout the majority of the state.

Actually, we have three threats today. One, is almost a 70 percent chance of flash floods in the North Country, which are rare, but very dangerous; the threat of thunderstorms and tornadoes together around the Syracuse, Ithaca, Utica areas; and then the third threat of high heat, which is New York City and throughout most of the state.

When you think about a place like Ithaca, it has a 106 degree heat index today. So, that could lead to a loss of power with the thunderstorms and then you have the high heat. So, it is a very challenging day, but what we're doing – our emergency services have activated our Operations Center, enhanced monitoring. We have communicated with every single county in the impacted areas. Over 4,000 DOT and Thruway personnel have been activated. 6,000 utility workers are available to address any downed power lines and our State Police are ready to help on the roads. And our swift water rescue teams have been activated in regions across the state as well.

So, we're prepared for this, but we really need New Yorkers to be paying close attention, especially if you're in one of those flash flood risk areas. We have seen communities that have been devastated by storms like this in the past. And again, this is our new normal – extreme weather. But today is a triple threat that bears a lot of watching from your viewers today and everyone who's concerned about being out there.

Basically, stay home if you can. If you lose your power, we don’t expect there to be long power outages. This should be a shorter duration event than you see sometimes when power is out for days.

But again, the flash flooding is the biggest concern because just two feet of water can make your vehicle float away and sweep vehicles off roads and bridges. So, everybody should have an evacuation plan. Pack a go bag, be watching out where your children and pets are, and let's get through today and tomorrow.

Dan Bazile, Spectrum: And Governor, I know you mentioned Ithaca, New York City, Syracuse. Are there any other specific areas of concerns in the state right now when it comes to the remnants of Beryl?

Governor Hochul: Very much we are deeply concerned about the North Country – where the chance of flash floods that are pretty rare in New York this time of year. And what'll happen is, in the higher elevations, the mountains, the water will continue to accumulate, rush down – can take out roads and bridges if it's really high volume.

But this is something dangerous for travelers or people in homes that are near waterways in the North Country in particular. So, that's the current threat right now. But also if you're in the middle of the state the combination of thunderstorms and tornadoes together is very rare in New York again. So that is something to pay attention to. Tornadoes can come up unexpectedly. We'll be monitoring, but we really need people to be listening and paying attention to their cell phone alerts, watching the news, listening to the news and just staying really engaged throughout the next 24 to 36 hours.

Julie Chapman, Spectrum: Governor, as we've been talking with you, we’ve been showing some video of the damage that Beryl has caused as it came ashore and moved through parts of the country. Well, New York State has felt the effects of these storms before that have been like Beryl. Anything that we have learned from the past that we have experienced, we're going to take those lessons and move forward as we watch this?

Governor Hochul: We have suffered loss of lives because of people going out and looking for a pet when the river next door, the stream next door is raging and flooding. So, I have walked the streets of communities, in the Highlands area, for example, the lower Hudson Valley area. We have seen thousand-year flooding events come up really unexpectedly. The lesson learned is to be prepared for the unexpected. And that is why we've deployed so many individuals watching carefully, tracking the weather.

Just last year, I opened the most sophisticated weather monitoring system in the country up in Albany and talked about how we can pinpoint what is happening, but Mother Nature is wildly unpredictable. So right now, we know where we expect it to go, but it could move in areas we don't can't foresee right now.

So, vigilance is also the operative word. We are constantly monitoring, but having an engaged citizenry right now is really important to make sure that people are safe, and we keep their homes safe, but be ready to pack up and leave your home. So, I would say the lesson learned is for us to constantly communicate and you are a great vehicle for this with our citizens and let them know what the risks are and how to protect themselves and their families.

Dan Bazile, Spectrum: And yeah, hopefully everybody stays safe during this time, Governor and we do appreciate having you here. While we have you here, Governor, we'd like to ask about the race for the White House real quick. Do you think that, and I'm sure you've been asked this question before, do you think that President Joe Biden should be campaigning in New York given his poor numbers here we're talking 53 percent unfavorable as of June and the Siena poll?

Governor Hochul: I would say this, the day after the President's debate on Friday, he was in New York. He was in New York City. I was with him. He was very engaged with the crowd as we opened the National Stonewall Visitor Center to commemorate the birthplace of the LGBTQ movement. So, he was there, he was engaging with residents there.

So, I don't know if that's considered campaigning or not, but he was in New York that day and the next day as well. So, he is welcome here any day. We spoke about President Biden when we announced just a couple of days ago, the largest federal infrastructure project in American history going on right in New York and New Jersey with the Gateway Tunnel that was again damaged by a major storm event as we're talking about weather here, Hurricane Sandy over a decade ago.

He has been involved. I anticipate he'll come back. The First Lady has been here many times. The Vice President continues to come to New York. I don't think there'll be strangers here.

Julie Chapman, Spectrum: Governor, looking at that poll again on a personal note, your numbers are slipping a little bit. 49 percent unfavorable. Is that of any concern to you?

Governor Hochul: I focus intensely on doing the very best I can for all New Yorkers, and the challenges we've taken on have been extraordinary, many times unprecedented, but we are working together to accomplish what we can for New Yorkers. And so, elections are a long way off. It does not occupy time in my mind.

What I'm focused on is running the State of New York the way we been.

Julie Chapman, Spectrum: All right, Governor Kathy Hochul talking about preparing for the upcoming possible extreme weather and talking a little bit about politics in New York State in this big election year.

Dan Bazile, Spectrum: Governor, thank you so much for again joining us. We appreciate it again to stay up to date.

Governor Hochul: Thank you.