 Good afternoon. Thank you all for joining us today New York City emergency management is very proud to join our mayor Eric Adams Along with elected officials and members of the administration who are part of the Puerto Rican Dominican and Caribbean diaspora in New York City to answer to the call after the devastation caused by Hurricane Fiona One of things our mayor makes clear all the time no matter what the emergency is that we're dealing with is one of the first Questions you always get is how are we working together? What are you doing to work with the private sector? What are you doing to work with other agencies? It is a question you know You always need to be prepared for and so yesterday. I'm very proud to report that we've deployed a small team to Puerto Rico They will be assessing the situation They are already working alongside Puerto Rican emergency management bureau and FEMA and a host of other municipalities and other agencies They've also started working alongside the mayor of San Juan and they are currently on their way to more significantly affected areas in the south part of the island Right now the most pressing emergency is restoring electricity and tomorrow our team will be met by a larger contingent an interagency contingent from the city Staff from these agencies will join other emergency responders already on the ground their job will be to assess damages to Infrastructure and essential services caused by heavy rains floods and wind And they will continue to work alongside our local partners and FEMA to make sure support is getting exactly where it is needed And so first I'd like to just start by thanking you mr. Mayor For your leadership and mostly for the team that you've assembled During this administrative during this in murder emergency and other emergencies that we faced Whether you're talking to a deputy mayor or other commissioners There's no egos in the room and the question is always what can we do to help? This is no different and so I'd like to also thank our agency partners for their support and our logistics and support teams and Emergency management for helping organize and prepare this group that is going down tomorrow Our city has very strong ties to the people that have been affected by Fiona and we are proud to answer this call beyond the five boroughs We all know especially here at emergency management how daunting rebuilding can be it requires a strong commitment and Collaboration with other agencies and partners and that's what we're here to do And as we have in the past our team is dedicated to this work And we will be with the people of Puerto Rico of the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean and the days ahead So thank you all very much and sir Thank you so much commissioner and really want to thank my colleagues in government that are here with us Commissioner hbd commissioner carry on director of mocks Lisa Flores Commissioner Difter rain Cortez Vasquez Reverend Cabrera mayor's office of faith-based community partnerships Lewis Molina commissioner of DOC Kizzie Charles Guzman who will be speaking after me director of the mayor's office of climate and environmental justice Anna Ben Mudez commissioner of probation Annabelle Palmer commissioner of commission on human rights Sheriff Anthony Miranda Commissioner of Val Vera Mayuga a Council member my council person Marjorie Velasquez some of our elected officials who are here Council member Raphael Salamanca Council member comment de la Rosa Also the Bronx borough president borough president Vanessa Vanessa Gibson and commissioner Rodrigo Rodriguez and also joined by the council general of Dominican Republic public Council general jazz J quiet Jack was we're all here together. We're here because we realized that five years ago We were here dealing with hurricane Maria brought devastation to Puerto Rico and once again our brothers and sisters are facing darkness because of hurricane Fiona We know we have to get through this together millions in Puerto Rico the Dominican Republic and neighboring countries are without Electricity as flooding and must lies recede and leave a path of destructions in their wake Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic are extremely significant to our city We have the largest Puerto Rican and Dominican population outside the islands themselves Even the neighboring areas we have a substantial Population throughout the Caribbean diaspora and I'm proud to be mayor of these large populations and large Elected leaderships of that not only speak on behalf of their residents here in the city But those who are home in their respective islands We know this is a painful moment so many in our city are unable to communicate directly With their loved ones after immediately after a hurricane like this There are moments where you're unclear of what is taking place on the ground Family members and friends are desperately trying to get some answers and we want to do the best we can here and Nice them to ensure we supply those answers immediately after the hurricane even after the conclusion of the rainfall I appointed Commissioner Isco as our Incident commander he's going to coordinate all of our Agencies and our response from the city. He will communicate with our local elected So they could remain updated on what is happening on the ground the impact of this Hurricane as in all major tragedies when it happens abroad it plays out on our streets This communities and these communities are significant part of the New York City population I want to be clear New York stands with our brothers and sisters from Puerto Puerto Rico Dominican Republic in all affected countries And we're here to help And that help is going to come from listening to them and making sure that we're guided by our elected officials and experts that are here Yesterday as the commissioner announced We deployed a team to join the Puerto Rican emergency management agency FEMA and other emergency responders to assess damages to infrastructure And essential services our team met with the mayor of San Juan And is working with FEMA and Prima to see what is needed and how we could help I will be on the call later Today with the mayor of San Juan so that we could continue to let them know that we're here to fortify the services on the ground They would be fanning out We'll be they will be fanning out across the island into smaller localities in the next coming days And I and I will make sure That we give as much support that's needed and later this week We'll be deploying an additional multi agency team of emergency specialists to help out on the ground We're also monitoring the situation In the neighboring counties and neighboring countries including Dominican Republic To make sure that we are there to give the assistance that's needed New yorkers have made it clear. These are our brothers and sisters These are our families and we're going to do everything possible to be there for them during this devastating time With mother nature may have created We can be there to combat and ensure they get the resources they deserve We're now turning it over to uh, the commissioner of Reseed charles guzman Kizzy charles guzman's to give a few comments in spanish and then we'll turn it over to the council general of dominican republic Kizzy Gracias senor alcalde. Buenas tardes a todos Me llamo kizzy charles guzman isola directora ejecutiva de la oficina del alcalde para el cambio climático de la justicia ambiental Estoy aquí porque quiero ofrecerles unas palabras de aliento y de apoyo a mis compatriotas Que han sido azotados en las islas caribeñas de guadalupe de turques y caicos de puerto rico y la republica dominicana El huracán fiona ha causado no solamente Tragos inundaciones y graves daños materiales Sino también graves daños físicos y psicológicos en su paso por nuestras comunidades Hace cinco años con el huracán maría tanto como hoy comprendemos los retos y las tremendas dificultades causadas por el cambio climático y el efecto que estos desastres ecológicos tienen en nuestra salud En nuestras fuerzas y en el espíritu de nuestras comunidades Debido al cambio climático la frecuencia y la intensidad de estas tormentas impredecibles continuará afectando a nuestros países y a nuestra gente Muchos factores sociales Politicos y económicos nos han traído a la realidad De los efectos resultantes en cada lugar Hoy la ciudad de nueva york brinda no solamente palabras Nuestra postura es que la de salud es un derecho humano que no es negociable Y con sólo eso no nos referimos nada más a la salud física sino también la salud emocional Y la salud de nuestro medio ambiente Hoy les enviamos nuestro mejor recurso Nuestra labor nuestro expertos nuestras manos Ya sea para la remoción de escombros la distribución de suministros estamos aquí para servirles La reconstrucción es abrumadora requiere colaboración completa Nos comprometemos a colaborar en lo que necesiten Y a las familias que han soportado muchas penas durante las crisis posteriores y la de esta semana les digo Fuerza saldremos adelante aunque estemos cansados, aturdidos, rabiosos Tristes este es el momento una vez más de compartir y de apoyarnos los unos a los otros Hay que establecer como prioridad La salud ambiental y la salud comunitaria Esta es la mejor estrategia para prevenir enfermedades Controlar plagas y mantenernos fuertes en los días venideros Estamos unidos mis hermanos Palante Gracias Thank you. We want to now bring on the council general Jack West from the Dominican Republic Council general Muchas gracias Alcalde Eric Adams En nombre del gobierno dominicano Queremos agradecer este gesto de solidaridad Que es el mejor remedio para combatir este golpe de la naturaleza Que una vez más nos ha invadido a través del huracán Fiona Y que ha pasado por la República Dominicana Y ha dejado secuela en la región este del país en varias provincias Donde ha afectado viviendas, vidas Heridos, inundaciones, puentes desplomados Falta de energía en decenas de miles de hogares Y que ha obligado a la concentración del esfuerzo oficial de parte de nuestro gobierno Para tratar de atender la demanda de la población al menor tiempo posible Este tipo de colaboración y de solidaridad se convierten a menudo en el mejor remedio Para un momento de tantas dificultades Muchísimas gracias Honorable Alcalde de Nueva York The council general is grateful for the assistance being offered here today There has been a lot of devastation not only in the Dominican Republic but all neighboring islands And often these lifelines are the remedy that we need to bounce back just a little bit faster All of this tragedy is obviously incredibly, incredibly stressful for our entire populations And every hand helps, every bit of assistance helps Thank you First team that was deployed yesterday, can you give us details about that? Also is there plans to send actual dollar amounts of aid to the islands that have been affected? So the team that deployed yesterday is actually there's two separate groups There's two people that are part of our urban search and rescue team That is administer that we administer but as a FEMA resource They went down as members of FEMA's incident management team That's a separate deployment Then yesterday we sent down three people Two from our agency one from NYPD ESU Their job right now is we're right now very much in the assessment phase And so I think we need to figure out what the needs are before we make any type of commitment As to what type of support we will be providing The primary goal is to be providing technical assistance and guidance And to help make sure that the municipalities are getting the resources they need Through FEMA and other channels Thank you So we have more people who are going down tomorrow It's an interagency team of folks from parks, DOP, DOB, DOT, DDC and others Who can provide technical assistance as we're doing assessments in different municipalities To understand what the needs are I think it's about a dozen people I can give you the exact number though We plan to send actual dollar amounts of assistance to the islands that have been affected by this storm A lot of funding during these races come through FEMA But I think the commissioner is right We need to get on the ground like his team did automatically and right away To identify exactly what we're doing What we're dealing with Where should resources go and what type of resources should go So this is the first step is get it get down and do an assessment We have unfortunately it's unfortunate that this is not the first crisis we had to address This team here at NISOM is well organized on how addressing these crisis and FEMA is well organized And so this phase is to get down on the islands and determine exactly what the needs are I'm sorry Having gone through this five years ago with Maria We have the response is that much quicker and that much more effective Does the same apply? Well one we have a president that identifies Puerto Rico is part of our country That's number one and number two. There's a coordination That we're going to do with not only the my office, but the governor's office and with with FEMA So the coordination is crucial. Thank you. Thank you Thank you all so much I would be remiss if I didn't also let you know we are doing a blood drive downstairs And so welcome folks to donate blood. I believe it's ending soon, but if you're interested you participate. Thank you