Irene leaves hard times for East Coast tobacco farmers

STONEWALL, N.C. (AP) Far from the beach towns that took Hurricane Irene's first hit, the storm inflicted some of its worst damage on inland farms as crops were pummeled by wind, scalded by salt spray and submerged by floodwaters. Some farmers are reporting total losses.
"My tobacco crop is completely wiped out. I can't harvest any of it," said Keith Beavers, whose Mount Olive farm lies about 70 miles from the ocean. "It's either blown off the stalk or off the limb, and what's left is raggedy." Continued