Tropical Storm Bertha made landfall Wednesday afternoon in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, unleashing significant rainfall and causing widespread flooding across the Gulf Coast region and extending inland.
The storm, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph at landfall, brought gusty conditions that were felt as far as 160 miles from its center. In Florida, strong winds toppled a Waffle House sign onto a vehicle in Panama City Beach.
Forecasters anticipate Bertha will maintain its tropical storm strength as it moves toward the upper Texas coast on Thursday. Tropical Storm Warnings were in effect from Cameron, Louisiana, to Sargent, Texas, and remained in place for the Alabama-Mississippi border and the New Orleans metropolitan area.
In West Virginia, Governor Patrick Morrisey declared a state of emergency for all 55 counties and deployed hundreds of National Guard members to assist in the hardest-hit areas. The state's Division of Natural Resources reported involvement in 85 rescues, with National Guard and state police helicopters on standby or conducting missions. Morrisey indicated concern for potential fatalities, though exact numbers were not yet confirmed.
Some parts of West Virginia experienced extreme rainfall, with up to seven inches recorded. Governor Morrisey noted that certain areas received 4.5 inches in just 37 minutes, leading to rapid inundation. Social media imagery depicted submerged vehicles and flooded businesses, including a Walmart in Weston. Emergency crews reported numerous rescues from flooded vehicles, but access to some locations was cut off by high water.
Beyond West Virginia, flooding impacted other states. In Alabama, vehicles became stuck in sand on Dauphin Island as water levels rose rapidly. In Tennessee, floodwaters caused erosion of home foundations and destroyed crops. One farm owner in Maynardville reported an estimated loss of $8,000 to $10,000 in crops due to flash flooding and debris carried by the storm surge.
Bertha is the second tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. It is expected to dissipate inland in Texas by Friday. Meanwhile, Hurricane Fausto was churning in the eastern Pacific Ocean, hundreds of miles west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California.