New York Silver Jackets

The New York Silver Jackets is a team of state and federal experts whose agencies manage flood risk in New York State. They meet periodically and communicate often to share information and synchronize their agencies’ efforts. They also regularly work on strategic flood risk management projects together.   

MISSION STATEMENT

New York’s Silver Jackets team is devoted to improving New York’s flood risk management and reduction efforts by improving access to quality flood risk data, coordination, communication among the agencies, communicating risk related to floods and other hazards, and application to interagency proposals.

Team Activities

Active Projects

• Kingston, NY Flood Preparedness: Focus on Forecasting – USACE is updating the hydraulic model the NWS uses to forecast water levels in the Hudson River between Troy and The Battery in NYC, incorporating feedback from Kingston, which uses river forecasts to prepare for floods.
• Seneca Nation Emergency Action Plan Assistance – USACE, NYS DEC, and the NWS are assisting the Seneca Nation of Indians with developing an emergency action plan for the Salamanca flood control project, a levee system along the Allegheny River.
• Nonstructural Flood Mitigation Training – As part of the local hazard mitigation plan update process, DHSES, NYS DEC, NYS DOS, and USACE are evaluating gaps in available training and optimizing when training is delivered, to assist planners with developing comprehensive actions to manage flood risk.  
• Emergency Action Plan Outreach – NYS DEC, DHSES, USACE, and NWS delivered two seminars on dam safety for dam owners and emergency managers from Albany, Rensselaer, Schenectady, Greene and Columbia counties, with more to come. Presenters emphasized the importance of developing emergency action plans, sharing those plans with partners, and keeping the plans up to date.

Recently Completed Projects

• Clear Lake Dam Tabletop Exercise – NYS DEC, DHSES, the Town of North Collins, and Erie County Emergency Management reviewed emergency action plan procedures and practiced their roles, activities, and messaging for if the dam were to fail, to improve their preparedness.
• Flood Risk Management Resource Guide – This 90-page guide, developed by the New York State Silver Jackets team and partners, provides information about 35 organizations with roles in and resources for flood risk management in New York State, including federal, state, and New York City agencies, river basin commissions, non-profit organizations, and others.
• Saquoit Creek Loss Avoidance Study – USACE, DHSES, NYS DEC, and Oneida County Emergency Management found that two flood mitigation projects for Whitesboro, Yorkville, and New York Mills that cost $7.6 million had reduced flood damages by approximately $3 million in the two years since the projects were constructed.
• Tropical Storm Agnes – To commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Tropical Storm Agnes, this outreach campaign highlighted the event and illustrated improvements to flood risk reduction since Agnes in 1972.
• Ice Jam Education and Training – NWS, USACE, NYS DEC, and DHSES held sessions to educate participants throughout New York State on types of ice jams and how to report and potentially mitigate ice jams.
• Nonstructural Flood Mitigation Workshops – USACE, DHSES, and NYS DEC provided training on how to make buildings exposed to flooding less vulnerable as well as available federal and state programs for nonstructural flood mitigation. The workshop in Great River, Long Island was attended by state, county, and municipal officials and homeowners.