Overview
- Bertha made landfall Wednesday in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, with sustained winds near 45 mph and a lopsided structure that has kept the heaviest convection displaced offshore.
- The National Hurricane Center projects the center will track near or along the Louisiana and upper Texas coasts through Thursday before moving inland over Texas and weakening rapidly into a depression or dissipating by Thursday night or Friday.
- Primary coastal hazards include gusty tropical‑storm‑force winds, dangerous surf and life‑threatening rip currents, 1 to 3 feet of storm surge in places, and 2 to 4 inches of rain with isolated higher totals that could produce flash flooding.
- Local officials closed sector gates, urged marinas and fishers to secure vessels, staffed emergency operations centers, and energy companies partially shut in offshore platforms and evacuated personnel as a precaution with models estimating up to about 1.5 million barrels of short‑term Gulf production could be affected.
- A deep plume of tropical moisture from Bertha is feeding a stalled frontal system and raising a heightened flash‑flood risk across the Mid‑Atlantic and Carolinas, where forecasters have placed parts of the region at a level 3 of 4 flood threat with repeated heavy rainfall possible.