After Irene, people in NC still suffer

MERRITT, N.C. (AP) - The 2012 hurricane season has begun even as residents of eastern North Carolina are still recovering from the damage inflicted last year by Hurricane Irene.

Almost 1,700 volunteers from a group called Eight Days of Hope were in rural Pamlico County last week, repairing homes damaged by the August storm.

Eight Days of Hope leader Steve Tybor of Mississippi says he was surprised to find people living in homes that look the same way they did after the storm hit. Volunteers worked in 127 homes, completing repairs to 65.

Methodist and Baptist volunteer groups have been in Pamlico since right after Irene hit, repairing about 130 homes between them.

The hurricane season began June 1 and runs Nov. 30.