(OUTER BANKS) -- Hurricane Irene proved to be an unusual storm compared to others in North Carolina history. It acted like a tornado, since the damage was isolated, but it devastated the areas it did hit. Congressman Bob Etheridge is now a special adviser to Irene relief.

While areas like Morehead City and Emerald Isle have virtually no visible damage now, other areas of the coast do. "Every county east of I-95 but one has been declared a federal disaster and several west of I-95. The bulk of jobs and income of Eastern North Carolina comes from agriculture, other than the tourism along the coast," Etheridge said.

Some cities along the coast got 12 to 14 inches of rain during the storm. FEMA estimates they've doled out $139 million in funding from Irene, but that doesn't include the total agriculture losses.