Parts of southern Louisiana and Texas witnessed heavy surf and after Tropical Storm Bertha came ashore along the Gulf Coast for a second time on Thursday (local time), hours before weakening into a tropical depression.
The Miami-based National Hurricane Center said parts of the upper Texas coast could continue to witness tropical storm-force wind gusts through Thursday evening, while elevated water levels caused by storm surge were likely to persist, AP reported.
Here’s what we know about Tropical Storm Bertha
Forecasters predict Bertha will produce at least one to three inches (2.5 to 7.6 centimeters) of , with isolated totals of up to four inches (10.1 centimeters) that could trigger flash flooding in coastal and south Texas. Further, more weakening was expected overnight, with the storm expected to dissipate by Friday (local time).
The Miami-based National Hurricane Center said Bertha first brushed past southern Louisiana on Wednesday as it slowly moved westward. The storm later weakened while making its second landfall about 75 miles (115 kilometers) northeast of Galveston, Texas, on Thursday afternoon. It retained status for several hours before being downgraded to a tropical depression, with maximum sustained winds dropping to 38 mph (61 kph) or lower.
Since forming over the Gulf of Mexico south of the Florida Panhandle on Monday, Bertha has not been linked to any deaths or major damage. The storm did, however, trigger coastal flooding when its center made its initial landfall in Louisiana, southwest of New Orleans, on Wednesday, while the bulk of its heavy rainfall remained over the Gulf.
The National Hurricane Center noted that on Thursday, the located south of Bertha’s center began spreading inland across southeastern Texas, and added that tropical storm-force winds extended up to 140 miles (225 kilometers) from the storm’s center.
A tropical storm warning was later discontinued in the evening from Sargent, Texas, to the Vermilion and Cameron Parish line in Louisiana.
Further, thick clouds linked with Tropical Storm Bertha also prompted billionaire ‘s SpaceX to call off the planned Starship launch on Thursday evening from Texas’ southernmost point. The test flight has been rescheduled for Friday, when forecasters predict clear skies.
Galveston braces for gusty weather, Florida sees minor damage
As officials predicted a ‘windy day,’ businesses in stayed open. Further, local officials urged roughly 53,000 residents of the island city to gear up for a “windy day” and secure any outdoor objects that could become airborne projectiles.
In a Facebook post, Galveston’s Office of Emergency Management said, “While no significant impacts are forecast, some gusty storms may blow through the island throughout the day.”
Meanwhile, the Galveston Historic Seaport cancelled its sightseeing boat tours as a precaution, but was operating normally otherwise.
However, Bertha caused minor damage in parts of , where it left a boardwalk damaged and knocked over a Waffle House sign. In Pensacola, authorities cordoned off an area around a beach boardwalk after it sustained storm damage, Mayor D.C. Reeves said in a Facebook post on Thursday. He also shared a photograph showing a section of the boardwalk’s support structure torn away, along with damage to a nearby fence.
According to poweroutage.us, electrical outages across the Gulf Coast remained minimal.
Bertha is the Atlantic hurricane season’s second named tropical storm, following Tropical Storm Arthur, which brought heavy rainfall to parts of the southeastern in June.
Meanwhile, in the eastern Pacific, Hurricane Fausto continued to churn over open waters on Thursday. The storm was located more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) west-southwest of the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula, with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 kph).
(with agency inputs)
