Mayor of New Bern, N.C.: 'We're Going to Get Through This'
*By Madison Alworth*
As the remnants of Florence make their way north, causing tornadoes in Virginia, the devastation to the Carolina coast is just beginning to be understood. One of the areas most affected was New Bern, NC. The city is completely flooded, and around 4,300 homes have been damaged or destroyed by Florence.
"It's a tough time for New Bern. But we've been here 300 years, we've never let a hurricane get us down, we're not going to let this one," said Mayor Dana Outlaw. The local official joined Cheddar via the phone to give an update from the ground.
Since the storm made landfall, 455 people have had to be rescued from the flood waters in New Bern. "The top priority continues to be safety and security for our citizens," said Outlaw.
Residents are being encouraged to stay out of town as clean up efforts are underway, and there is no clear sense of when people will be able to return to their homes.
"Let's wait for the governor to say it's time for eastern North Carolina residents to return, because it's not there yet," said Outlaw.
Getting the city back up and running will be a group effort. During her Cheddar interview, Outlaw was outside an office where North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper and other state officials were meeting. New Bern and cities like it will turn to state and federal groups and agencies like FEMA, as well as everyday individuals for help.
"My daughter from Bethlehem, NC, is bringing three truckloads of blankets and things. It's that type of community involvement, and North Carolina and United States involvement, that is going to get us back quick," said Outlaw.
However the mayor did stress the severity of the situation. According to New Bern city manager Mark Stephens, damage estimates are as high as $6 million for the city. The danger and work is not over yet, and Mayor Outlaw hammered home that point.
"Remember everybody out there, sometimes folks die after a storm, not during it."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/mayor-dana-outlaw-of-new-bern-nc-gives-update-on-florence-flooding).
Jill Wagner is joined by Baker to talk about kids and vaccines: we finally know how many young kids are getting vaccinated. Plus, Democrats are working on a Plan B for paid family leave. And the salad chain Sweetgreen goes public.
Miami's biggest Latin music festival is back next month. Vibra Urbana is kicking off its two-day, star-studded show on December 18 and 19. Puerto Rican veteran Don Omar is among the top headliners of the event. Javier Caso, co-founder of Vibra Urbana Festival, joins Cheddar News to preview the event.
Bitcoin is getting a makeover. It's the first upgrade in four years for the cryptocurrency. The Taproot update offers greater transaction privacy and efficiency and will unlock the potential for smart contracts. Jeff Roberts, executive editor of Decrypt, joins Cheddar News to breakdown what this upgrade means for investors.
The nation's largest alcohol e-commerce and delivery platform is getting even bigger. Drizly is now collaborating with 7-Eleven to deliver alcohol in under 60 minutes from 7-eleven's 1,200 stores. The companies plan to expand the collaboration in the coming months. Cathy Lewenberg, COO at Drizly, joins Cheddar News to talk about the new collaboration.
Congress declared November as National Hip Hop History Month, the bill was co-sponsored by Congresswoman Maxine Waters and Congressman Jamaal Bowman. Rocky Bucano, executive director and president of the Universal Hip Hop Museum, joins Cheddar News to talk about the genre's impact on pop culture.
Netlify, a platform that builds, deploys and hosts websites and apps, raised $105 million dollars in a Series D round, now valuing the company at $2 billion. Along with the funding, Netlify is also announcing the acquisition of the company OneGraph. Netlify says OneGraph's technology will drive a new wave of innovation on its platform, by making it easier to compose apps with the best developer tools available. Netlify co-founder and CEO Matt Biilmann joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Chip Paucek, CEO and co-founder of 2U, an educational tech company, joined Cheddar's "Closing Bell" to talk about the company's $800 million acquisition of online course provider edX featuring curriculum from Harvard and MIT. He noted that added services will provide 2U users with high quality, free options. "Us coming together with edX should allow us to really continue to drive affordability for people to unlock their own potential in a variety of different kinds of programs," he said.
