Tropical Storm Bertha Makes Landfall Again Near Texas-Louisiana Border

Tropical Storm Bertha made landfall again on Thursday near the Texas-Louisiana border after initially skirting southern Louisiana. This slow movement caused high waves and some flooding along the U.S. Gulf Coast. Meteorologists warned of potential additional flooding as heavy rains moved inland toward southeast Texas.

By Thursday afternoon, Bertha had moved inland, positioned about 120 kilometers (75 miles) northeast of Galveston, Texas, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). Three hours later, it remained classified as a tropical storm, though its maximum sustained winds had decreased to 65 km/h (40 mph). Forecasters expect the storm to weaken further overnight.

The dense clouds linked to Bertha led SpaceX to cancel a planned Starship rocket launch for Thursday night from southern Texas. The test flight, which would skim space, was rescheduled for Friday with a forecast of clear skies.

No deaths or significant damages have been reported since Bertha formed on Monday in the Gulf of Mexico south of northwest Florida. The storm caused some coastal flooding when its center first touched down on Wednesday in Louisiana, southwest of New Orleans, but its heaviest rains stayed over Gulf waters. These rains began moving inland along Texas’s southeast coast on Thursday.

A tropical storm warning remained in effect from Sargent, Texas, to the Vermilion and Cameron parish borders in Louisiana. The hurricane center reported that Bertha might still cause storm surges up to 60 centimeters (2 feet) and isolated flash flooding from heavy rains along the coast and southern Texas. Tropical-storm-force winds extended up to 225 kilometers (140 miles) from the storm’s center, yet experts anticipate weakening as the storm travels over Texas and dissipates by Friday.

Galveston Businesses Remain Open

In Galveston, an island city of 53,000 people southeast of Houston, local officials advised residents to prepare for a ‘windy day’ by securing outdoor items that could become airborne in strong winds.

‘Although no significant impacts are predicted, some thunderstorms with gusty winds could affect the island throughout the day,’ said the Galveston Emergency Management Office on Facebook Thursday. The Galveston Historic Seaport proactively canceled its boat tours on Thursday, yet reported normal operations otherwise, according to employee Jesi Hahn. ‘We are definitely open,’ she said. ‘We typically only close for major hurricanes.’

Nearby, Justin Timber, an employee at the Harbor House Hotel and Marina, reported no known reservation cancellations. ‘It seems like a normal day,’ he stated. ‘The restaurants are full. Everything is great.’

Minor Damage in Florida

Power outages along the coast were minimal, as shown by the poweroutage.us website. Nevertheless, Bertha’s impact was not entirely without incident.

In Pensacola, Florida, authorities closed off an area around a pier damaged by the storm, shared Mayor D.C. Reeves on Facebook, including a photo showing damage to a support structure and fencing. Earlier in the week, strong winds knocked a Waffle House sign onto a car in Panama City Beach, Florida. The high surf and rip current threats prompted warnings for Gulf Coast beaches, advising swimmers to stay out of the water.

Bertha is the second tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. Tropical Storm Arthur, in June, brought heavy rains to the southeastern U.S. In the eastern Pacific, Hurricane Fausto was moving away from land, situated over 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) west-southwest of Baja California’s southern tip, with maximum sustained winds of 130 km/h (80 mph). The hurricane center noted that swells generated by Fausto could produce strong waves and potentially deadly rip currents in parts of southern California.

Report by Bynum from Savannah, Georgia, and Thanawala from Atlanta. AP journalist Marcia Dunn in Cape Canaveral, Florida, contributed to this report.

This report was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of AI generative tools.