Communities along the U.S. Gulf Coast began distributing sandbags and closing beaches as Tropical Storm Bertha advanced, threatening to bring flooding and strong winds from the Florida Panhandle to Louisiana. Forecasters predicted Bertha would make landfall Wednesday night in a lightly populated coastal area of Louisiana, southeast of New Orleans.
As of early Wednesday, the storm was located approximately 145 miles west-southwest of Panama City, Florida, and 75 miles east of the Mississippi River's mouth. It was moving west at 6 mph with sustained winds of 50 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
A tropical storm warning was in effect for a stretch of coastline extending from the border of Bay and Gulf counties in Florida westward to Morgan City, Louisiana. The warning also included metropolitan New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain.
Forecasters anticipated storm surges of up to 4 feet in Louisiana, from the Mississippi River mouth to the Alabama-Mississippi state line. Smaller surges were possible along parts of the Florida and Alabama coasts. Rain totals were expected to range between 2 to 4 inches from western Florida to the southern Louisiana coastline, with some areas potentially experiencing heavier rainfall that could lead to flash flooding in urban environments.
Bertha is the second tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. Tropical Storm Arthur in June brought significant rainfall to the southeastern U.S. Coastal areas in Mississippi, still recovering from flooding caused by Arthur, could experience heavy rain from Bertha.
Authorities in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Florida established sites for sandbag distribution. Red flag warnings were posted along some beaches, cautioning swimmers about dangerous rip currents. Double red flags signaled that Gulf waters were closed to swimming. Beaches near Pensacola, Florida, saw deserted shores except for a few tourists observing the rough surf.
There had been no need to open shelters or order evacuations as of Tuesday, according to officials in Mississippi's Harrison County, where six sandbag distribution sites were operational.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has projected a below-average Atlantic hurricane season, though forecasters caution that this does not preclude the possibility of a significant storm.
Separately, Hurricane Fausto was churning in the eastern Pacific Ocean, far from land. Located about 805 miles west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California, Fausto was moving west-northwest at 9 mph with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph. It was forecast to strengthen gradually, and the hurricane center warned that swells generated by Fausto could cause life-threatening surf and rip tide conditions along the Baja California coast.