Tropical Storm Bertha Crawls Gulf Coast, Beaches Closed

Tropical Storm Bertha crept along the Gulf Coast toward the edge of Louisiana on Wednesday, spinning off tropical-storm-force winds up to 100 miles from its center and forcing beach closures from Florida to Mississippi. The second named storm of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, Bertha was centered about 55 miles northeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River by mid-morning, moving west at just 6 mph with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Slow Crawl, Wide Impact

Bertha’s slow westward crawl — moving at a walking pace — prolonged the threat of heavy rain, storm surge, and gusty winds across a wide stretch of the Deep South. Tropical storm warnings stretched from parts of the Florida Panhandle to Morgan City, Louisiana, including metropolitan New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain. Tropical storm watches extended west to Sargent, Texas.

“Landfall really doesn’t have a whole lot of meaning in this particular case,” said Robbie Berg, a warning coordination meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center, as reported by AP News. The storm’s wind field and rain bands extended far beyond its center, meaning impacts were felt across a broad area regardless of where the center made landfall.

Forecasters warned of storm surges up to 4 feet in Louisiana from the Mississippi River mouth to the Alabama-Mississippi state line. Rainfall totals of 2 to 4 inches were expected, with isolated higher amounts up to 6 inches possible from western Florida to southern Texas, raising the risk of flash flooding, particularly in urban areas.

Beaches Closed, Sandbags Distributed

Double-red flag warnings were posted along beaches from Florida to Mississippi, closing them to swimmers. Parks, piers, and low-lying roads were shut down as a precaution. Authorities in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Florida opened sandbag distribution sites for residents bracing for potential flooding.

Despite the closures, the storm did not prompt evacuations or shelter openings as of Tuesday. For many locals, the storm was a familiar inconvenience rather than a cause for alarm. “For locals, this is just another storm,” said Candice Henderson, manager of the Crab Trap, a beachside restaurant in Pensacola, Florida’s Perdido Key, which remained packed on Tuesday. “When you’re on vacation and it’s raining, you either shop or you go out to eat.”

However, officials urged caution, particularly in Mississippi, where communities were still recovering from flooding caused by Tropical Storm Arthur in June. “Because of that [Arthur’s flooding], people are definitely paying attention, or at least you would hope so,” said Jeff Clark, a spokesperson for Mississippi’s Harrison County, as reported by USA Today.

Weakening Trend Expected

Bertha reached a peak intensity of 60 mph on Tuesday but had weakened to 50 mph by Wednesday morning. The storm was forecast to continue weakening as it pushes into Texas through Friday, eventually dissipating. Forecasters said Bertha was unlikely to reach hurricane strength due to wind shear disrupting its structure.

Ryan Truchelut, chief meteorologist at WeatherTiger, described Bertha as a “low-grade tropical threat” that “overall won’t be much different from a normal summer mix of sun and rain away from the immediate coast.”

Ecological Toll on Sea Turtles

Beyond the human impact, Bertha took a significant ecological toll. On St. George Island, Florida, a critical nesting ground for sea turtles, the storm’s surge and high tides washed hundreds of baby sea turtles out to sea. Of 337 sea turtle nests, 214 were impacted by high tides on July 20.

“It’s very sad,” said Kimberly Crossen, president of the St. George Island Sea Turtle Patrol, as reported by the Tallahassee Democrat. “We were set up for what could have been a record season, and now, we have lost so many.” Conservationists, vacationers, and locals banded together to save as many baby turtles as possible during the storm.

Hurricane Fausto Churns in the Pacific

Elsewhere, in the eastern Pacific Ocean, Hurricane Fausto churned hundreds of miles west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph. The hurricane center warned that ocean swells generated by Fausto could cause life-threatening surf and rip tide conditions along the Baja California coast.

What’s Next

Bertha was expected to make landfall later Wednesday in the sparsely populated coastal region of Louisiana southeast of New Orleans. The storm’s remnants are forecast to push into Texas, where flooding remains a concern. Forecasters, however, see little additional tropical activity on the horizon. As hurricane specialist Michael Lowry noted, the “Atlantic appears closed for business for the rest of the month,” with no new candidates expected for at least several weeks.