Beaches closed and sandbags filled as Tropical Storm Bertha approaches Gulf Coast

WASHINGTON, July 22, (AP): Communities on the US Gulf Coast distributed sandbags and closed beaches as Tropical Storm Bertha threatened to bring flooding and strong winds Wednesday from the Florida Panhandle to Louisiana.

Bertha was forecast to make landfall Wednesday night in the coastal and lightly populated part of Louisiana southeast of New Orleans, with wind as the biggest threat, according to Michael Buchanan, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Louisiana.

Early Wednesday, the storm was centered about 145 miles (235 kilometers) west-southwest of Panama City, Florida, and 75 miles (120 kilometers) east of the mouth of the Mississippi River.

It was moving west at 6 mph (9 kph) with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph), the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said. A tropical storm warning was in effect from the line between Bay and Gulf counties in Florida west to Morgan City, Louisiana, as well as for metropolitan New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain, the hurricane center said.

Storm surges up to 4 feet (1.2 meters) were possible in Louisiana from the Mississippi River mouth to the Alabama-Mississippi state line, with smaller surges in parts of Florida and Alabama, forecasters said. Rain between 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 centimeters) could fall from western Florida to the southern Louisiana coastline, with higher amounts in scattered areas that could cause flash flooding in urban areas.

Bertha was expected to weaken as it pushes into Texas, forecasters said. Authorities in Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida opened sites to provide sandbags to residents while red flag warnings were posted along some beaches advising swimmers about the dangers of rip tides. Up and down the coast, double red flags signaled that Gulf waters were closed for swimming.

Beaches near Pensacola, Florida, were mostly deserted except for tourists taking photos of the pounding surf. "For locals, this is just another storm,” said Candice Henderson, manager of the Crab Trap, a beachside restaurant that was packed Tuesday on Pensacola’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 the Atlantic hurricane season. Tropical Storm Arthur in June brought heavy rainfall to the southeastern US. Bertha could dump heavy rain on coastal areas of Mississippi that are still recovering from flooding brought by Arthur that destroyed and damaged homes.