Irene generates home product demand

Eastern Seaboard consumers are lining up for batteries, generators and other storm-related products as Hurricane Irene bears down on the eastern United States.

A CBS News report on the storm said Home Depot's emergency preparedness team has been working and watching the storm closely, and have already sent 500 trucks to supply East Coast stores with high-demand products. CBS quoted Steve Holmes: "Product is selling just as fast as it arrives."

That assessment was born out by other reports from New York's Long Island, not only at big boxes, but also at a handful of hardware stores, where one shopper described the scene at several stores as "a madhouse."

Irene is expected to hit land on Saturday.