Facing what he called an "entirely different reality" of more intense storms brought about by climate change, Mayor Bill de Blasio said city officials would resort to travel bans, door-to-door efforts to evacuate basement residents, and specially directed phone alerts in the future.
The plan, which the mayor announced on Friday during a press briefing, comes in the wake of Wednesday night's record-shattering rainfall, which killed (at the current count) 13 New York City residents, the majority of whom lived in basement apartments. De Blasio as well as Governor Kathy Hochul have faced questions about whether they should have issued more warnings and set up preparations in advance of the storm. Although de Blasio has called out weather predictions for being inaccurate, there were warnings as early as Monday that the remnants of Hurricane Ida could deliver as much as 14 inches across the region.
"We are now dealing with something inconceivable," de Blasio said, referring to the more than three inches of rainfall that fell in an hour between 8:51 pm to 9:51 pm on Wednesday night. "It has created a new set of ground rules. We now need to meet that with a very different approach."
The mayor did not outline the specific conditions in which the city would order travel bans or evacuations. But he announced the formation of an extreme weather response task force, which he said would deliver a new set of policies by September 26th.
He said he would move swiftly on the task force's recommendations.
“Whatever we can do immediately we will," he said, adding that should there be a hurricane in the future, he would start talking to New Yorkers about the potential for travel bans and formal evacuations.
The NY Post reported that in May, city officials came up with a plan to respond to flash floods that included drafting a special alert message for basement dwellers. But the deadline set for the list of proposals was 2023, two years after de Blasio is set to step down from office.
Asked about that timeline, de Blasio said, "Clearly, we have to change that," while again emphasizing that the level of urgency had changed.
One challenge will be identifying the bulk of city residents that live in often illegal basement apartments, many of whom experts say are undocumented immigrants who are worried about eviction and possible deportation. According to the mayor, the city roughly estimates that there are at least 50,000 basement dwelling units that are inhabited by at least 100,000 residents, though he admitted that number is likely much higher. The city's building's department confirmed Friday afternoon that five of the six apartments where people drowned were not legal dwelling units.
One group, NYC Base Campaign, which advocates for the legalization of basement dwellings, has counted more than 312,000 such units across the city.
New York City's ongoing affordable housing crisis has dealt city officials with a difficult choice of trying to allow such units while also ensuring they are safe. A 2019 pilot program by the city to offer homeowners assistance to bring illegal basement apartment up to code has made little progress, something which the mayor himself acknowledged on Friday.
Individuals impacted by the storm have been directed to call 311 for help. John Scrivani, commissioner of the city's emergency management department, said the city would open a disaster assistance center in each borough.
But it was still unclear what kinds of services were available for renters and homeowners without flood insurance.
During an appearance on WNYC's The Brian Lehrer Show, de Blasio said the city was working with the federal government on access to disaster relief funds. "I need to get better answers on renters, but anyone with those questions can call 311," he said.
