Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Advises New Yorkers to Prepare for Severe Weather Today

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul updated New Yorkers on an enhanced risk for severe weather today in Central New York, Mohawk Valley, Capital Region and the North Country that will include damaging wind gusts and numerous severe thunderstorms. Tornadoes may also be possible in these areas. These storms are expected to begin developing in the late morning hours in Western New York and will be moving eastward through the State through the late afternoon. Heat advisories have been extended until 9 p.m. Wednesday for the Mid-Hudson Region, NYC and most of Long Island, and remain in effect for the Mohawk Valley, North County, portions of Central New York and the Southern Tier until 8 p.m. today. For a complete listing of weather watches, warnings, advisories and latest forecasts, visit the National Weather Service website.

VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.

AUDIO of the Governor's remarks is available here.

PHOTOS of the event will be available on the Governor's Flickr page.

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

Speaking of the heat, when I said that extreme weather and climate change was our new normal, I was referring to summers exactly like this one. After a record-setting heat wave last month and the most ever recorded tornado warnings — we had over 40 tornado warnings just a few days ago — we have another case of extreme weather here in the State of New York. So, we have a heat advisory in effect on Long Island, in New York City, the Mid-Hudson until 9 p.m. Wednesday. So, that's a long way off. We're anticipating wind and severe weather storms — even tornadoes — in Central New York, Mohawk Valley, the Capital Region, the North Country, and all of our state agencies have been sounding the alarm for days.

We've reached out to all the local county management teams, we have over 5,000 utility workers and their crews ready to restore power if necessary, pre-positioning DOT workers with generators, and in the meantime, New Yorkers, once again, extreme heat is back. Beware of extreme thunderstorms and tornadoes in different parts of our State. But for heat, keep an eye on your neighbors, find cooling centers, if necessary, watch out for our beloved pets, and again, thunderstorms can be very dangerous and we're anticipating an onslaught of those over the next couple days as well. So, be careful about flooded roads. No matter how little it looks, it can turn your vehicle into a boat and float you away and it's very, very dangerous. So, I just want to give an update on the extreme weather, which is now the new normal.