Bertha Makes Second Landfall

Tropical Storm Bertha made a second landfall Thursday near the Texas-Louisiana state line after grazing southern Louisiana in a slow crawl that triggered heavy surf and some flooding along the Gulf Coast. Forecasters said more flooding was possible as heavy rains moved onshore into southeast Texas. Bertha moved inland about 75 miles northeast of Galveston, Texas, on Thursday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center said. Still packing sustained winds of 45 mph when it reached land, the storm was expected to weaken rapidly.

No deaths or significant damage have been reported since Bertha formed Monday in the Gulf of Mexico south of the Florida Panhandle. The storm caused some coastal flooding as its center first struck land Wednesday in Louisiana southwest of New Orleans, but its heaviest rains stayed over the Gulf waters, the AP reports. That rainfall south of the storm's center began moving inland along Texas' southeastern coast Thursday afternoon. A tropical storm warning remained in effect from Morgan City, Louisiana, to Sargent, Texas.

The hurricane center said Bertha could still cause up to 2 feet of storm surge along the coast and trigger isolated flash flooding from heavy rains in coastal and south Texas. Tropical storm force winds on Thursday extended as far as 160 miles from the storm's center, the hurricane center said. Still, forecasters expected the storm to weaken rapidly as it moved over inland Texas and dissipate by Friday.

• In Galveston, an island city of 53,000 people southeast of Houston, local officials urged residents to brace for a "windy day" and secure any outdoor objects that might become airborne projectiles. "While no significant impacts are forecast, some gusty storms may blow through the island throughout the day," Galveston's Office of Emergency Management said.
• Some of the worst weather associated with the storm was expected 800 miles inland, the Washington Post reports. Bertha's moisture plume extends as far north as Newfoundland and very heavy rain is expected in a corridor from Raleigh, North Carolina to Virginia Beach as the moisture meets a stalled storm front.