NEW BERN — New Bern is an eclectic town built with different types of houses and all types of families. Right now, Hurricane Florence tore apart just about everything, but what it also did is bring everyone together.
New Bern is a town right along the coast next to Neuse River. When Florence hit North Carolina, this was one of the cities that found many of its homes flooded and destroyed because of rushing water. Sadaf Hassan knows this as well as anyone in New Bern.
"It just looks like a war zone," Hassan said. "To see five feet of debris piling from the ground up in your homes is terrible."
Already with no electricity or water, Hassan is having to tear out the entire interior of her home.
"It hit our kitchens, our bathrooms and out floors," Hassan said. "Everything's gone."
Hassan lives across the street from Seth Miller, who also is having to tear apart the inside of his home.
"I've gotten to know the underside of my house really well," Miller said. "From two to four feet down, depending on drywall or plaster, we need to just gut it."
Tim Straub is a contractor in New Bern, as he is working to help get his boss' house back up on its feet.
"It's indescribable," Straub said. "I've never seen anything like it. People are losing almost everything."
George Fenderson works for Melvin's Landscape in New Bern, as he said work has never been so busy and difficult at the same time.
"This is all just a mess," Fenderson said. '"A lot of stuff is waterlogged, and it's heavy."
While this is obviously a difficult situation for families to deal with and the recovery process seems like it will be endless, these New Bern neighbors said they are seeing the best in people.
"Just when you start feeling sorry for yourself, you just have to look right or left," Hassan said. "Somebody is dealing with the same or worse. We've seen people sharing tools, sharing food and sharing everything that they have."
"There's this great eclectic mix of middle class, upper class and lower class," Smith said. "We all work together."
"I hate to say a horrible storm like this brings out the good in all the people, but you can certainly see it in everyone," Straub said. "There is true caring here."
New Bern may not look like its normal self, but the people who make up this community are showing what they really look like more than ever before.
"It always has been a close-knit community, but I think it just has brought out people from everywhere giving each other a helping hand," Hassan said.