RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) - Just days after Hurricane Florence, recovery for people who live in New Bern got underway and those who evacuated returned home to see the damage the storm left behind.
"I was just devastated because I know my grandmother had those things for a long time and some of those things you can't replace," said New Bern resident Shawnteria Ambrose.
The CBS 17 Investigators received claims the mayor of New Bern turned down help days before the hurricane hit.
According to Memphis Light, Gas and Water, "two crews were set to leave for New Bern to help … but the mayor of New Bern expressed his sincere appreciation and thanks but says they will have more than enough crews."
That release had CBS 17 and residents wanting answers.
"He definitely shouldn't have turned them away, " Ambrose said.
"When prior to a storm or an event like this, the city governing board, we set policy, and a lot of times we are kind of co-running the city with the staff. But, when something like this hits the alderman, the mayor ... we back off," said Dana Outlaw, the mayor of New Bern.
However, according to several sources, despite the release, the Memphis utility was never contacted by the mayor.
Their spokesperson has since corrected the previous statement. She now says MLGW was in communications with the Director of Public Utilities for New Bern and not Outlaw.
She says their help was turned down because there were other available crews less than two hours away.
The mayor says, because of that help, 15,000 of their 22,000 customers had power restored within two days.
"America has spoken and ... I just hope for what everybody's done. Every time there's a hurricane somewhere, that people are standing up for a little town like people are standing up for New Bern," Outlaw said.
According to New Bern's media spokesperson, all customers who can be restored now have their power back on. Those remaining are homes that were badly damaged and require an electrical repair before service can be restored.
The spokesperson said as of Monday, 864 customers require an electrical repair by a professional electrician. They will then require a city inspection of that work. After all of that, service will be restored.
Here is a look at the current outages across the state of North Carolina.