Image from MSNBC

Along the East Coast, people are preparing to meet Hurricane Irene.

Forecasters have been talking about the storm for days and nobody is taking chances as it’s expected to hit the U.S. this weekend.

States of emergency have been declared up and down the coast. In some areas, residents have been ordered to evacuate their homes.

Irene’s path of destruction so far promises to be long and lengthy.

Usually, hurricanes that get up into the higher latitudes are fast-moving. This one isn’t — which means it will be a powerful, slow-moving storm that could be doing a lot of damage.