ALBANY COUNTY — At 10 a.m. Sunday, as Tropical Storm Henri was an hour from its predicted time to hit Long Island, Governor Andrew Cuomo held a press briefing in New York City.

“The storm hits Long Island and then slows,” he said. “A slow storm is a problematic storm because when the storm slows, it continues to drop rain for an extended period of time. The variable is how quickly that storm continues to move.”

Four to eight inches of rain are expected through Monday, in New York City, Long Island, and in the Hudson Valley.

Cuomo also announced, “President Biden has approved our emergency declaration today. That is what’s called a pre-landfall declaration. Very often we have an emergency declaration by the federal government after the storm.”

Albany County is among the 26 counties in New York State covered by the pre-landfall declaration. The others are: Bronx, Broome, Chenango, Columbia, Delaware, Dutchess, Greene, Kings, Montgomery, Nassau, New York, Orange, Otsego, Putnam, Queens, Rensselaer, Richmond, Rockland, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Suffolk, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester. 

An emergency declaration from the federal government triggers reimbursement with federal funds.

“All the preparatory work we’re now doing will also be subject to federal reimbursement,”said Cuomo. “So all the deployment troops, and we have deployed 500 National Guard, 1,000 State Police, 500 pieces of equipment. There are Department of Transportation personnel all across the state … 

“We’ve moved equipment from as far away as Buffalo down to Long Island. When we have a situation like this we go into what we call flex mode, where the area of the state that is affected, we flex all the equipment and personnel to that affected area. That is all very exciting and this federal declaration means the state and the local governments will be reimbursed for that cost.”

Guilderland Police sent out an advisory on Saturday night at 10 p.m., stating the Altamont Fair would not open on Sunday, the last day of its six-day run “due to the anticipated inclement weather, the State of Emergency declared by New York State, and in the interest of public safety.” 

All state parks south of Interstate 84 are closed to the public through 12 p.m. Monday, according to a notice from the governor’s office. 

On Sunday afternoon, the National Weather Service issued a flood watch for a large part of the Capital Region, including Albany County, through Monday evening.

“Widespread rainfall of 2 to 6 inches is expected as Tropical Cyclone Henri impacts the region,” the announcement said. “Localized rainfall amounts up to 6 to 10 inches are possible, especially over the higher terrain areas of the eastern Catskills and Berkshires. Rainfall rates exceeding 1 to 2 inches per hour are possible at times.

“Rapid rises could occur on smaller streams and creeks resulting in some rivers reaching flood stage. Urbanized areas, particularly in poor-drainage and low-lying areas, may also experience flooding.”

Several watches and warnings have been issued by the National Weather Service. A complete listing of these notices, as well as the latest forecasts, is online at National Hurricane Center or National Weather Service Public Alerts.

Safety tips are outlined on the state’s website.