The past hurricane season devastated much of Eastern North Carolina, killing 51 people, causing an estimated $53 1 million in crop losses, and damaging over 57.000 dwellings. Following Hurricanes Dennis, Floyd and Irene. 66 counties in North Carolina designated as disaster areas by the federal government face a long recovery process as many residents either rebuild or relocate to higher ground. Local, state and federal policy-makers face the challenge of directing recovery efforts in order to not only restore areas to pre-disaster conditions, but also make communities more disaster-resistant in the future
