Tropical Storm Bertha moves toward Texas after Louisiana landfall

Tropical Storm Bertha was moving west toward the upper Texas coast on Thursday, July 23, after making landfall in Louisiana a day earlier, with forecasters warning of coastal flooding, heavy rainfall and hazardous surf.

The US National Hurricane Center said in a Thursday morning update that Bertha had maximum sustained winds near 45 mph, or 75 km/h. The storm’s center was expected to move near or along the Louisiana and upper Texas coasts before crossing inland over Texas on Thursday evening.

Forecasters expected Bertha to retain tropical-storm strength until reaching the upper Texas coast, then weaken and dissipate inland late Thursday night or Friday, July 24.

Tropical storm warnings covered the Gulf Coast from Morgan City, Louisiana, to Sargent, Texas. A coastal flood warning was also in effect for Lower St Mary Parish in Louisiana, where two to three feet of inundation was expected along the coast, threatening low-lying homes, businesses and infrastructure.

The hurricane center forecast two to four inches of rain along the Texas Gulf Coast and South Texas through Thursday night, with isolated totals of up to six inches. It said the rainfall could cause isolated flash flooding, particularly in urban areas.

Swells generated by the storm were expected to spread west along the northern and northwestern Gulf Coast, creating life-threatening surf and rip-current conditions. The National Weather Service office serving Houston and Galveston said the strongest effects along the immediate coast were likely to include gusts reaching lower-end tropical-storm strength.