Tropical Storm Bertha strikes Gulf Coast, bringing rain, wind and coastal flooding
Tropical Storm Bertha, the second named storm of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, made its first landfall on Wednesday afternoon in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, with maximum sustained winds of about 45 mph. The storm moved westward along the northern Gulf Coast, producing a storm surge of up to three feet and rain totals of 2–6 inches, triggering coastal flooding, gusty winds and dangerous rip currents from Louisiana through Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.
A second landfall occurred near the Texas‑Louisiana border, where officials warned of further flooding and wind damage. The National Hurricane Center noted that “the system will weaken rapidly as it moves inland and is expected to dissipate by Friday.” The storm prompted tropical‑storm warnings from the Texas coast to the Gulf of Mexico and led oil operators such as BP and Chevron to shut down production on offshore platforms, potentially affecting up to 1.5 million barrels of oil output.
In northeast Mexico, Conagua and the Servicio Meteorológico Nacional issued alerts for Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas, forecasting very strong rain (50‑75 mm) and wind gusts up to 85 km/h, raising the risk of flash flooding in the region. No deaths or major damage were reported, but authorities continued to monitor the situation as the storm moved inland.