Tropical Storm Bertha makes landfall on southern Louisiana with threatening winds

MIAMI (AP) – Tropical Storm Bertha crawled onto the southern tip of Louisiana on Wednesday, making landfall and packing strong winds far from its center after closing beaches from the Florida Panhandle to Mississippi.

The Miami-based National Hurricane Center said Bertha made landfall in St. Bernard Parish, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) east of New Orleans and 45 miles (72 kilometers) southwest of Biloxi, Mississippi.

The wind and storm surge were the main threats for the Deep South states. Parks and piers were closed up and down the coast, as were some low-lying roads. A tropical storm warning stretched from the Alabama-Florida border over to Louisiana, including metropolitan New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain, National Hurricane Center said.

Tropical storm force winds extend over 100 miles (160 kilometers) out from the center of Bertha. Storm surge up to 3 feet (1 meter) is possible in Louisiana as well as heavy rain in some areas, forecasters said. Rain totals were forecast between 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 centimeters), with higher amounts possible in isolated areas.

Bertha is expected to continue losing strength over the next few days as it heads toward Texas after the storm earlier trudged past the Florida Panhandle and the tips of Alabama and Mississippi. At landfall, the storm’s maximum sustained winds were around 45 mph.

Elsewhere in the U.S. this week, a line of storms generated reports of tornadoes stretching from Cincinnati to New Jersey. Torrential rains caused flash floods Tuesday night that swamped homes, washed out bridges and led to water rescues in West Virginia, authorities said.
Sandbag distribution sites are set up

Authorities in Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida opened sites to provide sandbags to residents who may be impacted by Tropical Storm Bertha. Double-red flag warnings were posted along some beaches, closing them to swimmers.

“For locals, this is just another storm,” said Candice Henderson, manager of the Crab Trap, a beachside restaurant that was packed Tuesday on Pensacola, Florida’s Perdido Key. “When you’re on vacation and it’s raining, you either shop or you go out to eat.”

Bertha is the second tropical storm of Atlantic season

Bertha is the second tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. Tropical Storm Arthur in June brought heavy rainfall to the southeastern U.S.

Bertha could dump heavy rain on coastal areas of Mississippi that are still recovering from flooding brought by Arthur that destroyed and damaged homes.

Hurricane Fausto in the Pacific is far from land

In the eastern Pacific Ocean, Hurricane Fausto churned far from land Wednesday. The hurricane was hundreds of miles west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 kph).

It was forecast to gradually strengthen and the hurricane center warned that ocean swells generated by Fausto could cause life-threatening surf and rip tide conditions on the Baja California coast.