LAURA SULLIVAN, host: This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Laura Sullivan, in for Guy Raz.
This morning, a little before seven o'clock, Todd Clissold walked into the bar and sandwich shop he runs in Manteo, North Carolina. The first thing he noticed?
TODD CLISSOLD: Was just the pungent, nasty smell that hits you when you first come in, and that's the first sign things weren't very good.
SULLIVAN: Todd's place is called Poor Richard's. It's been there since 1984.
CLISSOLD: Well, I purchased it from Richard in 1998.
SULLIVAN: That's right.
CLISSOLD: The original Richard.
SULLIVAN: But this morning, that smell?
CLISSOLD: I don't mean to sound gross, but almost like a septic smell. It's like a sludge, just sloppy, nasty smell.
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SULLIVAN: Like a lot of businesses in downtown Manteo, Todd's place was completely flooded by Hurricane Irene, and he's no stranger to this sort of thing.
CLISSOLD: No. No, I'm not. I've seen the water come up during the storm of the century back in '93, I think, and the water came up higher than I thought it would ever come. So they call that the hundred-year storm. But in Manteo, I think we just beat the hundred-year storm yesterday.
SULLIVAN: Our cover story today: After the storm, the East Coast recovers. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.