Peter Cichetti, director of the New York State Office of Emergency Management, joined AccuWeather as water rescues were ongoing in New York City on July 31.
00:00Drenching storms are hitting New York State with dangerous flash flooding underway right now in some spots, including in Queens.
00:07That's right. And joining us right now is Peter Chiquiti.
00:11He's the acting director of New York's Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Service.
00:15So, Peter, we know water rescues are already underway in Queens. What can you tell us?
00:21Yeah, we've had a few water rescues.
00:24New York City has done a few water rescues on the Clearview Expressway, especially between Northern Boulevard and 35th Street.
00:32There were some stranded vehicles and a stranded tractor trailer.
00:36There are water rescues ongoing in other locations as well.
00:41There was a lot of rain in a short amount of time, and we expect more to come over the course of the next five hours or so.
00:48And, Peter, you cover an enormously populated state, and there's a lot of diversity between up to the north in the Adirondacks, west to Niagara Falls, and down into New York City, Long Island.
00:57So what's your message to people commuting or out on the roads in the next few hours, and how does that differ from one location to the next?
01:04Yeah, it differs tremendously.
01:06We have everything from New York City, as you mentioned, to the north country, out west to Buffalo.
01:10And so the topography in different areas warrants different types of response and different types of communication.
01:17What we have been stressing to people today in New York City, on Long Island, and in the Hudson Valley area is that when they drove to work this morning, it was likely sunny and dry.
01:28But their commute home is not going to be that way.
01:31So they need to pay really, really close attention to their local forecast.
01:35They need to be aware of how heavy the rainfall rates may be in their area.
01:39They need to make sure that if it is going to be raining hard, they either don't drive or they adjust their travel plans so that they are avoiding flooded roadways.
01:50And, of course, never walk, swim, or drive on flooded roadways.
01:55Six inches of water on the road can cause your vehicle to stall and break down.
02:00A foot of water can wash your vehicle away.
02:03Absolutely. So how does the state work with those local municipalities for safety planning and afterwards in those affected areas?
02:11Yes, we've been in close contact with our county emergency management partners and our city emergency management partners for the past 48 hours or so.
02:20We did a coordination call earlier today with all of them at the local level to hear about their preparedness actions, their response actions, and to also communicate to them how we as a state are supporting.
02:33We have staged water rescue teams to be available if localities need them.
02:38Our state emergency operations center is activated to enhance monitoring, and we have our fire operations center activated as well.
02:45We have emergency stockpiles that are open and ready to deploy equipment as needed, and we embed with counties and localities if they need our support, too.
02:56So we are in near constant communication with them to hear about what they may need if they need state support and to hear about impacts on the ground.
03:05Peter, final question for you moving forward.
03:07Later tonight and into tomorrow morning, how does your safety message change for residents and for visitors?
03:13Yeah, so we're most focused on from now until about midnight because that's when the heaviest rain is going to fall, and that's the most likely risk of flash flooding, which is just the rain was so heavy that the streets started to flood quickly, and it's not necessarily specific to low-lying areas.
03:32It can just be anywhere where the rain fell.
03:34Overnight and into tomorrow, we will focus a little bit more on potential river flooding because that takes time to occur, but sometimes the creeks, the streams, the rivers, you know, in the overnight and into tomorrow will start to flood around those areas, and then we'll focus on those communities.
03:52The flood watch in most of these areas goes, I think, until 2 p.m. tomorrow.
03:55So today and tonight, the focus is flash flooding and life safety, and then overnight and into tomorrow, it's about recovery from flash flooding, but also watching any potential river body flooding.
04:08Absolutely. Acting Director of New York's Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, that's Peter Chigatee. Thank you so much for joining us.
04:17Thank you, Peter. And now we can take a closer look at the Northeast on radar, and we still have this zoomed into New York, and overall, while New York City, a massive state here, has quite a bit of variety, there is rain in many areas, but by far the biggest impacts, the lowest part of the Hudson Valley, right into New York City.
