Zachary Iscol of the New York City Emergency Management shares with AccuWeather the steps officials are taking in preparation for the major winter storm closing in on the city.
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00:00 We're joined by Zachary Iskal. He's the commissioner of New York City Emergency Management.
00:05 Mr. Iskal, thank you so much for joining us. But, Commissioner, what is the latest now
00:12 and how are your teams preparing for what's coming tonight?
00:16 Yeah, so first off, the team has been doing incredible work, you know, first off with the
00:23 winter weather that we had coming in over the weekend through the weather that we're expecting
00:28 tonight. So we always start preparing for these events days in advance. We do close coordination
00:33 with the National Weather Service looking at the forecast. And for tonight, the primary concerns
00:38 are coastal flooding in and around Jamaica Bay, high winds, which, you know, the big concern with
00:42 high winds are things like downed power lines. So we've been in very close contact with Con Ed,
00:47 PSC&G, the utility companies. They're pre-staging crews around the city so they can quickly address
00:53 any of those issues. And then, of course, the rainfall as well. So the National Weather Service
00:57 has us under watches for both flooding tonight as well as the high winds. And we've got amazing
01:03 crews from the city that we're working with, not only, you know, DEP, transportation, going out,
01:09 clearing catch basins, making sure the water can run off the streets effectively, utility companies,
01:14 as I mentioned, but also first responders, right? Our fire department, NYPD, staging high axle
01:19 vehicles around the city. So if there are life safety events, we can quickly respond and get
01:24 to people in need. Of course, you have to make take one at a time, sir. We understand that. But
01:29 there is potentially, and I think a reality that there's going to be another rain event
01:35 with even a little bit of snow, but mostly another rain event for the city.
01:40 If that happens, is the city going to be ready for this?
01:44 We are always ready. You know, as I said, we start working days in advance.
01:50 We've got amazing men and women who work for the city, and I could not be more grateful for the
01:54 work that they do. They're out there in the inclement weather, making sure that the sewer
01:59 lines are working. They're out there making sure that we're getting power to people who need it.
02:03 They're out there taking care of our city's most vulnerable. You know, we put things like code
02:07 blues in effect to get the homeless population off the street and into shelter. So we're always
02:13 looking forward. We're always planning, always coordinating, and always making sure the city's
02:17 prepared. What I will add, though, is while the city's preparing, it's also really important that
02:21 New Yorkers prepare. So for this event tonight, for example, we're looking at the heaviest
02:26 weather really coming in between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m. But that could shift to the left or the right.
02:32 And if it does shift, that could impact the commuting times. So really important that
02:36 people are keeping themselves informed, following things like AccuWeather to make sure that they're
02:41 monitoring the forecast. And also I encourage all New Yorkers to sign up for NotifyNYC.
02:46 It's our city's public notification system. It's available in 14 languages, 1.1 million subscribers.
02:52 You can sign up at nyc.gov/notify by downloading the app or even just by calling 311.
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