ALBANY, NY-With US Vice President Joe Biden by his side, Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveiled “Reimagining New York for a New Reality,” a $17 billion strategy intended to transform New York's infrastructure, transportation networks, energy supply, coastal protection, weather warning system and emergency management to better protect New Yorkers from future extreme weather.

“The new reality in New York is we are getting hit by 100 year storms every couple of years,” says Gov. Andrew Cuomo. “We have to wake up to that new reality by completely reimagining our state to be ready for any future disaster.”

“Our plan completely transforms the way we build and protect our infrastructure, safeguard our energy supply, prepare our citizens and first responders, and provide fuel and electricity,” he boasts.

New York has suffered nine presidentially declared disasters in the three years since Governor Cuomo took office. A key theme of the state's rebuilding program is that extreme weather is a new reality.

New York presents special challenges in protecting its critical systems and infrastructure, according to the Governor's office. Much of the critical infrastructure in New York City—transit and electric systems in particular—is built underground and is susceptible to seawater. On Long Island, communities, power systems, wastewater systems, and fuel terminals are built along the coastline. In Upstate New York, communities and infrastructure are often built along waterways vulnerable to increasingly severe flooding.

The State is using its share of federal funds appropriated for Hurricanes Sandy, Irene and Lee (along with state funds) to implement this far-reaching program, which includes building the most advanced weather detection system in the nation, with 125 interconnected weather stations to provide real-time warnings of local extreme weather and flood conditions; launching the nation's first College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security, and Cybersecurity; replacing and repairing 104 older bridges at risk due to increasing flooding;

Implementing the largest reconstruction of the state's transit system in 110 years with $5 billion of federal funds; creating a statewide Strategic Fuel Reserve, and statewide gas station back-up power on critical routes throughout the state; hardening the state's electric grid and creating 10 “microgrids” (independent community-based electric distributions systems);

Building new natural infrastructure to protect the New York's coastline, and provide advanced flood control for inland waterways; training a new Citizen First Responder Corps to make New York residents the best prepared in the nation to deal with emergencies and disasters; expanding the $650 million NY Rising Community Reconstruction program to allow 124 communities around the state to create their own individualized storm resilience plans and issuing special license plates for first responders.

Instant Insights /

Gov. Cuomo Unveils Ambitious Weather-Preparedness Plan

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