(HATTERAS ISLAND) -- Governor Beverly Perdue surveyed how eastern North Carolina was recovering Friday, about five weeks after Hurricane Irene raked and flooded parts of the region.

Congress has been slow to approve more money for disaster relief, and Perdue says it's a primary concern. "We continue to worry about that, we continue to work with Washington and our congressional delegation to try and force some kind of movement for the whole East Coast, not just for North Carolina," she said.

The recovery process in North Carolina alone is expected to be costly, with parts of Hatteras Island still isolated while NC-12 remains closed after the storm surge breached the island's only link to the mainland.

The date to file for Disaster Unemployment Assistance in 35 North Carolina counties affected by Hurricane Irene has been extended to November 1. The counties are the following:

- Beaufort          - Bertie
- Brunswick        - Camden
- Carteret          - Chowan
- Currituck         - Craven
- Dare               - Duplin
- Edgecombe     - Gates
- Greene           - Halifax
- Hertford         - Hyde
- Johnston        - Jones
- Lenoir            - Martin
- Nash              - New Hanover
- Northampton  - Onslow
- Pamlico          - Pasquotank
- Pender          - Perquimans
- Pitt               - Tyrrell
- Vance           - Warren
- Washington   - Wayne
- Wilson