Tom Breen

WILMINGTON, N.C. -- With Irene gone, cleanup crews began pumping water out of soggy subway tunnels, fixing traffic lights in the nation's capital and clearing debris from hundreds of roads as the East Coast readied for the workweek. While early indications were that the damage was not as bad as feared, it will be days before things get back to normal in many places.

More than 4 million homes and businesses along the coast still did not have power Sunday. Roads were impassable because of high water, fallen trees and downed power lines. And while the full extent of the damage was not known, early estimates put it in the billions of dollars.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The tornado that carved through North Carolina's capital killed four children, shuttered a university for the rest of the spring semester and felled the signature trees in the metropolis known as the "City of Oaks."

It was the most active system of tornadoes on record in the state's history, leading to 23 deaths. In Raleigh, one of the nation's fastest-growing cities, the death toll and property damages underscored the massive costs that can be inflicted when a tornado makes a rare venture into areas of dense population.

In all, the storm killed 45 people in six states, but North Carolina was by far the hardest-hit.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- A Presbyterian church was happy to have Jeremy and Jodi Stokes as Cub Scout leaders, at least until officials there found out they are Mormons and told them they would have to step down because the church does not consider them real Christians.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Powerful Hurricane Earl spun toward the East Coast on Wednesday, driving tourists from North Carolina's vacation islands and threatening to bring damaging winds and waves all along the Atlantic seaboard through Labor Day weekend.