Governor Hochul: "This is an epic, statewide hazard. There's no other way to describe this than, this is having an impact everywhere. And fortunately, we have the most experienced team in America to deal with all kinds of disasters."

Hochul: "I called it a kitchen sink storm because it is throwing everything at us, but the kitchen sink. We've had ice, flooding, snow, freezing temperatures and everything that Mother Nature could wallop at us this weekend. I declared a State of Emergency that took effect at 6:00 a.m. this morning."

Hochul: "Do not travel until the roads are reopened, that you know it's safe. I know it's hard for families. Many of us have delayed the opportunity to see family members. It is an important time of gathering, especially after being separated during the COVID Christmases and Hanukkahs where people were separated. So, I know there's a strong desire to be with loved ones at this time, but the lives of your loved ones and yourselves come first."

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul held a storm briefing to update New Yorkers as a winter storm brought significant rain, snow and high winds across the state overnight, and blizzard-like conditions in Western New York. On Thursday, Governor Hochul declared a statewide State of Emergency ahead of the event, which went into effect at 6 a.m. Friday. Governor Hochul advised New Yorkers planning to travel this weekend to reconsider as a significant drop in temperatures Friday afternoon will cause significant flash freezing and icy road conditions.

VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here

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

Good afternoon everyone, and thank you for joining us on this Christmas holiday weekend.

Unfortunately, it won't be much of a holiday for the incredible, hardworking team we have. First of all, the DOT, our Thruway workers, our first responders, our State Police, our Parks, our DEC teams, as well as all the local police and fire organizations throughout the State of New York, because this is an epic, statewide hazard. There's no other way to describe this than, this is having an impact everywhere.

And fortunately, we have the most experienced team in America to deal with all kinds of disasters. And let's start with Commissioner Jackie Bray, who I was embedded with for five straight days, eating probably way too many Paula's Donuts in Western York about five weeks ago. We were there, we were trapped. We had Commissioner Dominguez with us as well. And you know, we had a chance to deal with the historic, almost seven feet of snow event at the time. So we're experienced.

And we also have the Interim Executive Director and General Counsel Frank Hoare of the Thruway Authority, who's also monitoring what's going on there as well, have some updates. And Superintendent Steve Nigrelli is in the heat of battle in Western New York. He is deployed there, making sure that our State Police are able to respond to all the emergencies, which are continuing.

The good news is, is that we are very accurate. I appreciate the fact that our Commissioner of Emergency Services is a former Chief of Staff at the National Weather Service. So when she makes weather predictions, I know they're going to be right. So she was absolutely right. The bad news is, is that it was a horrific forecast, and now we're experiencing it in real time at this moment.

I called it a kitchen sink storm because it is throwing everything at us, but the kitchen sink. We've had ice, flooding, snow, freezing temperatures and everything that Mother Nature could wallop at us this weekend. I declared a State of Emergency that took effect at 6:00 a.m. this morning. And let's just start with the statewide picture.

Let's start with Long Island. Jones Beach - flooding. Coastal flooding up to three feet in parts of Long Island, New York City, especially Howard Beach, the Rockaways Broad Channel and Breezy Point are hit. I know that there's emergency crews on the ground. The water did go up over three feet. There are some reports of floodings in homes and businesses, but that is starting to abate, so that is not sustained. But more rain is coming there. This is not a rain flooding event. This is a coastal flooding event, which is very different.

We've had the flash freeze. What is a flash freeze? Everything west of I-81, that Syracuse line, is already hit. And if you're east of I-81, it is still coming. And it won't thaw out for at least 24 hours. This is what makes the roads so treacherous. The rain comes down, and there's barely enough time between the rain and the icing for our snow plows and crews to be able to salt the roads. That creates incredibly hazardous conditions that the Commissioner will speak about as well.

At the same time, North Country is experiencing their normal snow and rain, they're handling it well. Southern Tier the same, but the flooding along the Hudson Valley, Capital Region, North Country, Southern Tier, all have high winds and rain, but no major, major issues.

So the focus once again is on Western New York. I was just watching video of the waves crashing into my neighborhood. I am from Hamburg, and I live in the City of Buffalo, and the lake effect storm is hitting in a historic way. The Skyway, which I can see right out my window, has almost 80 mile an hour winds. 80 miles an hour. The blizzard of '77, those who are old enough to remember, everyone has their Blizzard of '77 story, I think it got up to 69 miles an hour that year. So we are seeing incredibly dangerous, hazardous, life-threatening high winds, blinding snow storms, in real time hitting Western New York at this very moment.

So it's the lake effect, it's the national storm we saw elsewhere, but it's also the combination with the lake effect storm as well. So again, in preparation for what we saw was coming and has arrived, is the Declaration of Emergency. Getting people off the roads, telling, first of all, yesterday, saying there would be a driving ban for commercial vehicles, but now that has been expanded on certain areas like Erie County to being all roads. Some of the roads, we have hard closures, on Route 219, 400, 290, 190. Tandem and empty trucks on bridges across the New York City area as well. Ban on commercial traffic on the Peace Bridge.

So the message is, the roads are freezing. The roads are going to be like an ice-skating rink, and your tires cannot handle this. And that lends itself to great possibility of pileups. They can be dangerous. People can get stranded. We've already had a jackknifed truck on the Thruway, clearing that out. But what that means is the rest of the traffic that's behind it are paralyzed. This is when it can be threatening for individuals - especially those who didn't take preparations. If you were going to be on the roads, if you had to be on the roads, this is when you make sure that you've got your own sandbags, kitty litter, whatever you need to put under your tires to help you get out. Flashlights, food, water, blankets. This is how you need to travel in the winter in New York State. So hopefully people heeded that warning, but there is a possibility of motorists being stranded, which is why our State Police are deployed and watching out for anyone who might need our help.

Again, the flash freeze and the icy roads are not going anywhere soon. This is going to be an event that's going to continue through the weekend. And the wind chills are going to be absolutely bone-chilling. That's why this is a life-threatening event.

With over 100,000 power outages as we speak, they're trying to be restored as quickly as possible. That's why we brought in utility crews from all over other parts of the country to beef up our forces. We have over 7,000 utility crews out there to put the power back on. But you can understand - a limb comes down, takes the power lines on the ground. It is dangerous even for the utility crews to approach that in blinding snowstorms.

So, it's not going to be immediate, and that is why we're asking people to be safe at home. But I know there could be some very cold circumstances where people don't have the power they need to keep themselves - keep the refrigerator on, keep the stoves on, so it's going to be dangerous. We have over 100,000 statewide without power, 27,000 outages in Erie County alone, and at this time, 15,000 in Monroe County.

We don't expect, again, to be long-term power outages. However, any length of time when you have wind chills in places like Jamestown - Jamestown in the Southern Tier, not far from Lake Erie — minus 24 windchills expected, sustained for over 12 hours. Buffalo negative 10, everywhere else in the single digits.

So, that's the report at the high level, I'd like the Commissioners to take it to the level to explain exactly what we're doing. But my messages for New Yorkers is simple. This is a life-threatening, dangerous event. Protect yourselves, protect your families. Do not travel until the roads are reopened, that you know it's safe. And I know it's hard for families. Many of us have delayed the opportunity to see family members. It is an important time of gathering, especially after being separated during the COVID Christmases and Hanukkahs where people were separated. So, I know there's a strong desire to be with loved ones at this time, but the lives of your loved ones and yourselves come first. And this storm will go away.

And at the end of it, when we're doing cleanup, heading in the next week, we want to make sure that everyone is safe, that they heeded our warnings and were not stranded on roads, did not have a devastating circumstance at home because of an inside generator or people using fireplaces in a way that is not smart.

So please, I want everyone to be safe. And as far as who's on our roads, I'm okay seeing utility crews, first responders, fire, police, State Police, snowplows. And I'll even grant an allowance for Santa Claus to be out there. But that's it. Everybody else hunker down. And, for those from Western New York who have the big question, yes, the Buffalo Bills did make it safely to Chicago. And if you haven't already traveled there, then you need to stay home and watch it on television.

And with that, I'll turn it over to Commissioner Bray.