New York state emergency officials announce a new system that will allow counties across the state to better communicate during times of disasters. Jon Dougherty has more.
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Hurricanes, tropical storms, tornadoes and historic snowfall are just some of the emergencies New York state has had to deal with recently.
"Sadly, as we all know sitting in this room, extreme weather is the new normal," said New York Director of State Operations Jim Malatras.
Malatras kicked off the Emergency Planning Summit in Albany Monday in front of a crowd of more than 100 people from across the state.
The summit coincided with Governor Andrew Cuomo's announcement of NYResponds, an overhaul to the current emergency management system.
"It's a very comprehensive tool that will be able to communicate more readily between our counties and state," said Emergency Management Director Kevin Wisely.
NYResponds will also be able to notify residents of an emergency, include enhanced weather forecasting, and most importantly, get first responders on the same page immediately.
"Often times we're working and dealing in multiple counties at the same time so this is going to help us better prioritize and coordinate and manage the response to help the communities effected by any type of a disaster," Wisely said.
Wisely said it will be the most comprehensive emergency management system in the nation.
NY Responds is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2015.
Also Monday, the state announced a $50 million investment towards new equipment which will be strategically placed around the state in preparation for the next emergency.