Businesses work to rebuild, recover six months after Florence hit New Bern
Hurricane Florence filled New Bern’s streets and homes with water. It drove a boat into a bridge.
A painted bear statue was still standing after the storm, but it was standing in the middle of the street, a block away from where it had been.
It wasn’t far from Advanced Attractions Salon, where the front window was pushed out, along with a lot of what was inside.
“Our furniture had floated out, and it ended up in the parking lot across the street one block down,” said Elkie Brabble, the salon’s owner.
Brabble said there was between 4 and 5 feet of water in the salon.
Six months later, her business is back and better than ever, she said.
But it wasn’t easy, she added. Her home was also damaged in the storm.
“I went through so many emotions,” she said. “I wanted to give up, and I wanted to quit.”
Bill Wheeler's shop, Nautical Wheelers, is a couple of doors down. The inches of mud left by feet of water are gone.
His store looks like new. Customers are starting to make their way back.
But many other things are not the same.
“You still have the convention center and the hotel closed down here,” Wheeler said.
Some residents may return. Others are still working to start over.
Lorianne Saravanja purchased her home two weeks before Florence hit.
Four feet of floodwater had settled in before Saravanja had the chance to do so herself.
She was so close to signing the final papers.
“We were supposed to go to the lawyer the day before the hurricane hit,” she said.
Now, they wait for the previous owner’s insurance money to come through to make repairs.
Claims from Florence
Select a county below to see losses from Hurricane Florence based on claims for residential property tracked by the N.C. Department of Insurance as of November 2018.
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In Wake County, residents filed 4,234 claims for a total of $21,979,855 in losses. That's about $5,191 per claim, or $20.89 per person based on the population of the county.
But they are not exactly waiting; they’re doing what work they can themselves.
They recently finished the drywall.
And for the moment, their home is an RV in the front yard.
“Absolutely, we are not giving up,” Saravanja said.
