New York State Gov. Kathy Hochul has declared a state of emergency for 22 counties, effective Sunday morning, as a blizzard approaches the region.
“This is one to take seriously,” Hochul said in a news conference Saturday, offering special warnings to vulnerable areas on Long Island, especially places that are prone to coastal flooding, which will be a big factor in this storm.
100 members of the New York State National Guard have already been activated, Hochul said, and will be stationed across Long Island, New York City, and the Lower Hudson Valley, available to back up first responders and assist as needed.
The state will also have 25 vehicles to assist downstate response operations. It will include a new snow-and-ice rescue vehicle that can accommodate up to 20 people who might be stranded on roads. The vehicle will be sent to Long Island.
Hochul has been in touch with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and leaders of neighboring counties. The state is stockpiling extra equipment and emergency response crews are at the ready.
Th state DOT has more than 2,000 plows on standby and 5,800 utility workers ready to deal with outages.