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Hochul Pledges To Investigate NY’s Unpreparedness For Flash Flooding
By
Elizabeth Kim
Published Sep 2, 2021
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Darren McGee / Office of the Governor
By
Elizabeth Kim
Published Sep 2, 2021
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In what may be the biggest test of her crisis management skills to date, Governor Kathy Hochul on Thursday held a press conference with a group of of New York City elected officials in which she assured New Yorkers that the state would do its best to deliver aid to those hurt by the unprecedented rainfall from the remnants of tropical storm Ida.
Both she and Mayor Bill de Blasio faced a barrage of questions of whether the state and city should have been better prepared for Wednesday night’s record rainfalls that paralyzed the city and killed at least nine people.
Visiting a block in Jamaica, Queens where two people died after being trapped in their basement, Hochul spoke to reporters at a crowded podium where she was flanked by more than half a dozen elected officials, including Senator Chuck Schumer and Mayor de Blasio.
Although intended as a show of unity, the event was also an extraordinary political scene: a gathering of lawmakers who could soon become rivals. Jumaane Williams, the city’s public advocate, who Hochul acknowledged and who could be seen in the back, has said he is exploring a run for governor. The New York Times and Politico reported the de Blasio has taken steps through a pollster and union inquiries to gauge whether he has sufficient political support to mount a run.
The current governor began by expressing her condolences for the families impacted by the storm and assuring New Yorkers that federal aid was on its way.
She said she had received a call from President Biden who said he would provide any assistance the state might need.
“I told him, we'll take him up on that,” Hochul said, adding that she had directed the state’s Department of Financial Services to contact insurance companies to get their agents on the ground to begin immediately assessing damages so as to enable homeowners and businesses to begin filing claims.
But asked whether the preparations were adequate, Hochul said that would be something she would investigate.
Describing last night’s historic rainfall as “Niagara Falls level,” she said, “Could that have been anticipated? I want to find out, ‘Is that something we should have known in advance?’”
She also questioned whether subway riders should have been stopped from entering the system once a crisis had been identified. “It all should be about evacuation, not bringing new people into the system at the time,” she said.
At one point, Mayor de Blasio, who had not been expected to take questions, interjected to say the city had made a $2 billion commitment to address infrastructure problems in Southeast Queens.
“That investment is having an impact but it's not complete,” he said.
The mayor also said that it was becoming clear that the expert projections were proving to be consistently wrong. He said the report from last night was that the city would only receive between 3 to 6 inches of rain over the course of a day. In Central Park, 3.15 inches of rain fell in one hour, shattering a previous record by more than one inch.
But meteorologists objected to the mayor's characterization of their predictions, pointing out that the National Weather Service had predicted "significant and potentially life-threatening flash flooding" in the region.
“So now we’ve got to change the ground rules,” he said. “From now on what I think we do is tell New Yorkers to expect the very, very worst. It may sound alarmist at times, but unfortunately it's been proven by nature.”
Among all the lawmakers there was a common refrain: Global warming is already upon us and the government needs to take urgent action by approving billions of dollars worth of funding to states and cities.
Senator Schumer said that two pending federal bills, President Biden's infrastructure plan and another policy package that Senate Democrats want to pass through the budget reconciliation process, would tackle efforts to combat climate change and make cities more resilient.
But I. Daneek Miller, the city councilmember who represents the Queens district, argued that investment alone was not always sufficient. He said the very street that officials were standing on had long been identified as prone to flooding. Repairs to the block had been made several times, he said.
"So there has to be oversight, and we have to figure out what we're not doing right," he said.
Democratic mayoral nominee Eric Adams was also in Queens, touring one of the homes where a 43 year-old mother and her 22-year-old son were killed in a basement. He criticized the construction work that the city had commissioned and called for more oversight to understand why it wasn't done correctly.
"The city failed these families," he said.
With reporting by Brigid Bergin.
Tagged
new york city
Election 2022
jumaane williams
tropical storm ida
mayor de blasio
new york
flooding
Governor Kathy Hochul
queens
eric adams
Elizabeth Kim
Elizabeth Kim is a reporter on the People and Power desk who covers mayoral power. She previously covered the pandemic, housing, redevelopment and public spaces. A native of Queens, she speaks fluent Mandarin. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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