Historic New Bern looks to clean up after Florence

(16 Sep 2018) Leigh and William Bell have a yacht in their driveway. But it's not theirs. It came courtesy of Hurricane Florence. The New Bern, North Carolina couple fled west to escape the storm. When they returned, they found the Miss Scarlet sandwiched between their home and their neighbor's. Their garage was ripped in half. And water bubbled up through the hardwood floors of their 106-year-old waterfront home. Across the street, two motor boats sat side by side on the curb. The historic river city got massive storm surge from the hurricane. But down Front Street from the Bells, Wayne Mills is counting his blessings. His house was raised 12 feet about river level, and he only suffered fence, garage and other outside damage. The Oklahoma native has only lived in New Bern for six months. New Bern is approximately 100 miles from where the storm hit Friday morning. The town's mayor says there are 30 roads still unpassable, 4,200 homes and more than 300 commercial buildings damaged, 6,000 customers without power and 1,200 residents in shelters because of hurricane-turned Tropical Depression Florence. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...