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People all across eastern North Carolina are cleaning up and drying out after Hurricane Irene. Damage ranged from a new inlet on Highway 12 on the Outer Banks to downed trees across the coastal plain. Among the hardest hit areas were Carteret, Craven, and Pamlico Counties, near New Bern and Morehead City. Irene made its initial landfall there as a furious category one hurricane and left a trail of destruction.

Hurricane Irene unloaded more than a foot of rain on top of storm surge in eastern North Carolina. Flood waters swept into towns near the Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds as ocean water spilled into narrow inlets, and then into neighborhoods. Meteorologist Brandan Dunstan says the massive storm spread hurricane-force wind gusts and rain from the coast to the Piedmont.

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Irene is blowing across the Outer Banks now as a Category 1 hurricane. Dare County spokeswoman Dorothy Toolan says there's a section of Highway 12 north of Rodanthe that's washed over with sand and water. D-O-T is saying the road is intact.

Dorothy Toolan:  "This storm is just moving past Hatteras and the winds are starting to shift so we've still got a ways to go and as some of the bands move through, we have some lulls. You know, we're trying to remind folks that it's going to be with us for a while and they need to stay indoors."

Hurricane Irene is moving across the Outer Banks this morning. Will Michaels reports the storm was downgraded to a category 1 hurricane, but residents are still seeing high winds and surf up and down the coast.

Irene is cutting a path along the coast between the Outer Banks and the mainland. Meteorologist John Cole is taking cover at the National Weather Service in Morehead City.

Highways leading out of coastal communities are jammed with people evacuating ahead of Hurricane Irene.

From Cape Fear to Elizabeth City, two-and-four lane roads are packed with vacationers, displaced residents, and motorists trailing boats. All are headed for higher ground.

Sergeant Jeff Gordon is with the State Highway Patrol.

The outer bands of Hurricane Irene are making their way across eastern North Carolina. The National Weather Service reports steady rainfall in the Wilmington area and swells of six to nine feet along the Outer Banks. Tommy Hutcherson owns the Ocracoke Variety Store. He says he's making some last-minute preparations before conditions get worse.

William Michael Dillon spent nearly 27 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit. In 2008, DNA testing proved that he was innocent and he was set free. Dillon, also a musician, sings about his trials and tribulations in his first album, “Black Robes and Lawyers,” released this month.

How many lawyers does it take to make good music? Well, if you’re talking about the North Carolina band Instruments of Justice, the answer is a lot. They’re the house band for the law firm Poyner Spruill LLP, and they’re up to 13 members – enough to make up their own jury with an alternate. Host Frank Stasio gets treated to an in-studio performance and talks to the band about life as music-making attorneys.

Towns along the western edge of Pamlico Sound are preparing for storm surge when Hurricane Irene hits.

" Not surprisingly, storm surge is worst when the wind is blowing water right at you. That makes the exact track of Irene so important. If the center of the storm tracks directly over Pamlico Sound, towns like New Bern and Swansboro could be in for significant surge."

Rick Luettich is the director of the University of North Carolina Institute of Marine Science in Morehead City.