NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Tropical Storm Bertha has been gaining strength over the Gulf of Mexico as it slowly tracks toward the Florida Panhandle, triggering tropical storm warnings and storm surge watches near the Florida-Alabama border, according to forecasters.
As of a 1 a.m. update from the Miami-based National Hurricane Center, the storm was positioned roughly 125 miles (205 kilometers) south of Panama City, Florida, and about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Mobile, Alabama. Bertha was crawling northwest at just 2 mph (4 kph) with top sustained winds reaching 50 mph (85 kph).
That wind speed represents a 10 mph (16 kph) increase since the storm officially developed Monday night. A tropical storm warning — meaning dangerous conditions are anticipated within 36 hours — was in place early Tuesday, stretching from the Florida-Alabama state line to the Jefferson and Plaquemines parish boundary in Louisiana.
A storm surge watch was also issued for the stretch of coastline running from the Alabama-Florida border to the mouth of the Mississippi River. That designation signals the possibility of rising, potentially life-threatening floodwaters pushing inland from the coast within 48 hours.
Bertha marks the second named storm of the current Atlantic hurricane season, following Tropical Storm Arthur, which brought heavy rainfall to parts of the southeastern United States back in June.
The storm is forecast to hug the northern Gulf Coast early this week, dumping heavy rain on coastal sections of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana before gradually pushing westward toward Texas.
Storm surges reaching up to 4 feet (1.2 meters) are considered possible in parts of Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida. The hurricane center also warned that Bertha could spin off an isolated tornado or two across Florida’s Big Bend region this week.
Flash flooding is expected to remain a threat through Friday along the coastline from western Florida to central Texas. Rainfall totals along the Louisiana coast could reach 3 to 5 inches (7 to 12 centimeters), with some localized areas seeing even higher amounts, forecasters said.
Red warning flags were already flying at Orange Beach, Alabama, alerting swimmers to dangerous surf and strong currents. Meanwhile, emergency officials in Escambia County, Florida, made sand available to residents in flood-prone neighborhoods for use in filling sandbags.
Separately, in the eastern Pacific Ocean, Hurricane Fausto formed far off Mexico’s Baja California peninsula late Monday night but posed no threat to land, the hurricane center said. Fausto reached hurricane status Monday night and was located approximately 745 miles (1,200 km) southwest of the southern tip of Baja California, carrying top sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph) while moving west-northwest at 9 mph (15 kph). No coastal watches or warnings were in effect, though swells from the storm could produce dangerous surf and rip current conditions along the Baja California coast.
