As August comes to a close, officials in New York State are getting ready for National Preparedness Month in September, and they want residents to have a plan for when bad weather or tragedy strikes. New York State Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Commissioner Jackie Bray says you can't wait for an emergency to plan. WAMC spoke with Bray this week.
So National Preparedness Month is observed every September, and it's an effort to raise awareness across the country about how important it is to be prepared for disasters and emergencies, because they really can happen any time, as we in New York have been learning the hard way.
This time of year is still hurricane season. And you know, New York isn't immune from such storms. What advice do you have for listeners about that type of weather?
Yeah, not only is New York not immune from such storms, but we definitely are on high alert this year. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has put the chances and certainty of an above average hurricane season much higher than it usually is. And you know, I think that it's really important for New Yorkers to do four things. Number one, to make a plan for your family and your pets. Where are you going to go if you have to evacuate? If it does flood, how do you get to higher ground? Number two, gather the things now that might help you in the future. So, batteries for your flashlight, a couple extra days of medication, some bottled water, you know, some energy bars or things that can sort of sustain you. Number three, to have a plan to stay alert, to stay informed. You know, have you signed up for cell phone alerts? You can do that by going to alert.ny.gov. And then, number four, to check on your neighbors and you know, encourage your family members and your community members to also be prepared.
You kind of touched on it a little bit. But what should be in a safety plan, and how can families and businesses ensure execution is smooth when they are in a panic, and they do need to use these plans and use these kits?
Yeah, so you know what, what should be in a safety plan? You should know you, should have two places where you're gonna meet if you need to meet outside your home, one that is near your home, so you know, at the at the curb, and one that is a little bit farther away. Number two, everyone should know how to get a hold of everyone else. You know, I always ask myself if my phone dies and I'm using someone else's phone, do I know all the numbers that I need to know? Number three, what are those critical things that you need to have on hand? Critical medication, not only for yourself, but maybe also for your pets, documents, critical documents, do you know where those are. And then finally, you know what is unique to your area. Does your area flood? Do you have, if you had a, you know, we had 28 tornadoes touched down in New York this summer. That is highly unusual for New York, but it does happen. So, you know, do you have a basement? Do you know where you're going if you end up in a severe wind event like that, those are the type of things that we want people to know ahead of time. So, you're not trying to figure out, you know, figure that out in the middle of an emergency
Commissioner, you mentioned paperwork and medication. But what else should people have in these emergency kits. And should you have more than one kit depending on what type of disaster, if you are at home and something happens?
Yeah, I don't think you need more than one kit. One kit works. But here's some stuff that you could put in a kit, right? You know, a roll of duct tape, a tarp, maybe one of those blankets that people use after the marathons. You see them a lot. They're the sort of silver, shiny, very thin blankets, a change of socks, you know, water, things like a first aid kit, things like a flashlight, you know, some food, a radio. There's some really good they're called NOAA weather radios. They have hand cranks so that if you do get cut off, you can continue to hear what's going on, know what's going on. Those are all good things to put in the kit. And New York state actually runs a program called the Citizens Preparedness Corps. We have trained over 400,000 New Yorkers since we launched the program, we trained about 25,000 New Yorkers last year alone. And the citizens preparedness corps hosts, hour to hour and a half trainings all over the state, and on your way out, we hand you a go bag. We hand you a backpack with all these things already in it. So that's another really good way to make sure that you've got what you need.
I wanted to ask about the Citizen Preparedness Corps. training. How can people get involved in that? And when do you hold these training courses?
We hold a handful every single week. We've got a team that we partner with, with the National Guard that's out there, literally every day holding them. You can go to our website, which is DHSES.ny.gov to sign up. And it's really a great program, not only to get the physical things that you might need in an emergency, but also to get the information that empowers you to stay safe.
And we talked a little bit about people who, you know, find a spot that's on the curb or a little bit further away from the curb. But what about people who are traveling, who aren't in their homes and don't have access to these pre planned kits, or those who may be on the road in their car, on foot, when something like bad weather happens, how can they stay safe? What should they do?
Yeah, great question. I think about this all the time, like, what am I going to do if I'm driving right? Well, number one is to stay alert. Number one is to know what you're getting yourself into right now. You know, these days, the weather comes to us on our cell phones, and so you should check the weather. That is a thing you should do. Number two is to just familiarize yourself with some good safety tips, I'll give a couple right now, about 50 percent of all the fatalities, all the deaths that happen during flash flooding, are people in their vehicles. People are shocked at how little fast-moving water, how sort of shallow fast-moving water can really lift your car and make it impossible to steer. As little as six inches of fast-moving water can make it impossible to steer. A foot of fast-moving water can lift your car and, you know, swipe it away. And so, we always say, turn around, don't drown. So, if we're talking about flash floods and you're in your car, do not try to drive through that water. Turn around or pull over and wait it out. You know, if we're talking about tornadoes, which we obviously saw this summer, and you're in your car, and there's absolutely no way to not be in the middle of the tornado path, you want to pull over. You want to get out of your car, and you want to get as low to the ground as you absolutely can. So sometimes there are ditches next to roadways. Get into that ditch, cover your head with your hand or any other soft things you have, and wait it out. Those are just some tips. You can find more tips on our website.
And not just in New York, but Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, flooding has been a serious problem this year and last year. How in New York did extreme weather days compared to last year this year?
Oh man, you know, we've seen a 55 percent increase in the in the Northeast United States over the last several decades in extreme rain events. When I was just starting this job. We were just recovering from Hurricane Ida. Ida was this sort of really felt this historic storm. It dropped four inches of rain in an hour. It was a level of rain we had simply not seen before in this state. We now see that all the time. I've only been in my job for two and a half years. I've already responded to two, one-in-1000-year flood events, and so we are seeing it far more frequently. This summer alone, we've seen three major flooding events. And so, you know, I think that it is really the new normal. I think it really is different. Sometimes I say that the weather used to be that the weather of yesterday was a good predictor of the weather of today and the weather of tomorrow. That is just simply not true, and we have to be planning for ever increasing and ever more intense storms. And in the eastern part of New York and certainly in the entire Northeast United States, that means rainstorms.
Is there anything else that listeners should know about preparedness month.
You know, I would just say that it's always a good time to be prepared. It's always a good time to get prepared, and it's never too late to get prepared for the next event. And we are here to help New Yorkers be prepared and have the information you need. One of the things we're going to have to do as we confront climate change and we confront the extreme weather that comes with climate change is we're all going to have to get smarter and smarter about how to keep ourselves safe, our family safe, and our neighbors safe, and our community safe. And I would just really encourage New Yorkers, take 10 minutes, take 15 minutes, to familiarize yourself with what bad weather might happen in your area, and what are the tips and the tricks to get through that bad weather? And if you've got two hours sign up for a Citizen's Preparedness Course, you will not be sorry.
New York State Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Commissioner Jackie Bray.