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Tropical Storm Bertha creeped along the Gulf Coast toward the edge of Louisiana on Wednesday, spinning off strong winds far from its center and closing beaches from Florida to Mississippi.
The wind and storm surge were the main threats for the Deep South states. Parks and piers were closed up and down the coast, as were some low-lying roads. A tropical storm warning stretched from parts of the Florida Panhandle over to Louisiana, including metropolitan New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain, National Hurricane Center said.
Landfall, expected later Wednesday, was a lesser threat.
“Landfall really doesn’t have a whole lot of meaning in this particular case,” said Robbie Berg, a warning coordination meteorologist at the hurricane center.
Tropical storm force winds extended about 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the center of the storm, the hurricane center said. Bertha was centered about 55 miles (90 kilometers) northeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River by mid-morning. It was moving west at 6 mph (9 kph) with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph).
Storm surges up to 4 feet (1.2 meters) were possible in Louisiana from the Mississippi River mouth to the Alabama-Mississippi state line, forecasters said. Rain totals were forecast between 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 centimeters), with higher amounts possible in isolated areas.
Elsewhere in the U.S. this week, a line of storms generated reports of tornadoes stretching from Cincinnati to New Jersey. Torrential rains caused flash floods Tuesday night that swamped homes, washed out bridges and led to water rescues in West Virginia, authorities said.
Sandbag distribution sites are set up
Authorities in Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida opened sites to provide sandbags to residents who may be impacted by Tropical Storm Bertha. Double-red flag warnings were posted along some beaches, closing them to swimmers.
“For locals, this is just another storm,” said Candice Henderson, manager of the Crab Trap, a beachside restaurant that was packed Tuesday on Pensacola, Florida’s Perdido Key. “When you’re on vacation and it's raining, you either shop or you go out to eat.”
Bertha is the second tropical storm of Atlantic season
Bertha is the second tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. Tropical Storm Arthur in June brought heavy rainfall to the southeastern U.S.
Bertha could dump heavy rain on coastal areas of Mississippi that are still recovering from flooding brought by Arthur that destroyed and damaged homes.
Hurricane Fausto in the Pacific is far from land
In the eastern Pacific Ocean, Hurricane Fausto churned far from land Wednesday. The hurricane was hundreds of miles west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 kph).
It was forecast to gradually strengthen and the hurricane center warned that ocean swells generated by Fausto could cause life-threatening surf and rip tide conditions on the Baja California coast.
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Associated Press journalists Julie Walker in New York and Kim Chandler in Montgomery, Alabama, contributed to this report.
