ALBANY, NY (WRGB) — ALBANY, NY (WRGB) — Stay home. Keep warm.
That’s the core message from Gov. Kathy Hochul and other officials in a briefing Sunday afternoon at the Emergency Operations Center located in the New York State Police Headquarters in Albany.
With blizzard-like conditions expected to intensify Sunday night, Gov. Kathy Hochul has declared a state of emergency for the Capital Region, as New York prepares for a major winter storm that officials warned should not be taken lightly.
The state of emergency is in effect for 22 counties across New York state, including Schenectady and Albany. Hochul said the Capital Region is expected to receive about 8 to 12 inches of snow.
Snow has already started falling in the Capital Region and elsewhere, and is expected to continue overnight and into Monday.
State officials are monitoring the storm from the Emergency Operations Center in Albany, where staff are receiving updates and coordinating resources.
“The staff that is sitting on the floor right now are receiving reports from the national weather service who is present and other state agencies making sure that we know where our resources are,” said Terry O’Leary, acting commissioner of the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.
From the operations center, officials can monitor areas expected to be hit the hardest by tapping into live feeds from snowplows working during the storm. Hochul said the state is preparing ahead of Sunday night.
“We’re taking this so seriously because literally lives are at stake,” Hochul said.
Hochul said the storm is expected to pick up Sunday night and continue into Monday afternoon. O’Leary warned that blizzard-like conditions and wind could leave people disoriented.
“You should not be going outside, you should not be driving and you should even be careful about walking from one place to another,” O’Leary said.
Hochul said more than 6,000 utility workers have been deployed across the state for the storm, but she cautioned that severe conditions could slow restoration efforts if outages occur.
“The winds are so high it’s just too dangerous for them to go up a pole and risk their own lives to get the power on, so please be patient if you lose power,” Hochul said.
Travel disruptions were also reported at Albany International Airport, which has seen a dozen weather-related cancellations involving flights departing and arriving from destinations along the Eastern Seaboard. A spokesperson advised travelers to check their flight status and arrive at the airport at least two hours in advance.
Nearly a dozen cities in the Capital Region have declared snow emergencies ahead of the storm. The City of Albany, which struggled to notify residents of a snow emergency during the last major snowstorm, has not yet decided for this storm. The mayor’s office said the decision will be made toward the end of the storm so the city can assess the accumulation.