Remnants of Hurricane Bertha made a second landfall Thursday near the Texas-Louisiana state line after first striking Louisiana on Wednesday. The storm was still packing sustained winds of 45 mph as it moved inland about 75 miles northeast of Galveston.
Forecasters said more flooding was possible as heavy rains moved onshore into southeast Texas, and they expected Bertha to weaken rapidly. The National Hurricane Center also said the storm could still cause up to 2 feet of storm surge along the coast and isolated flash flooding in coastal and south Texas.
Galveston and southeast Texas
Tropical storm force winds on Thursday extended as far as 160 miles from the center, and a tropical storm warning remained in effect from Morgan City, Louisiana, to Sargent, Texas. Rainfall south of the storm's center began moving inland along Texas' southeastern coast Thursday afternoon, bringing the next round of impacts into the same corridor already watching the warning area.
Galveston's Office of Emergency Management urged residents to secure any outdoor objects that might become airborne projectiles and said gusty storms may blow through the island throughout the day. Galveston is an island city of 53,000 people southeast of Houston, and the office's warning matched the broader forecast that the storm would keep spreading rain and wind inland before it faded.
Galveston Historic Seaport
The Galveston Historic Seaport canceled its sightseeing boat tours Thursday afternoon as a precaution, but the site was otherwise operating normally. Employee Jesi Hahn said, "We'll definitely be open" and "We usually close for big hurricanes." Employee Justin Timber said, "It seems like a normal day" and "Restaurants are clicking. Everything's great."
That split between caution and routine ran through the coast. Officials in Galveston urged residents to secure loose items, while local businesses and attractions said they were still operating normally. Electrical outages across the Gulf Coast were minimal according to poweroutage.us, and no deaths or significant damage had been reported since Bertha formed Monday in the Gulf of Mexico south of the Florida Panhandle.
D.C. Reeves in Pensacola
In Pensacola, D.C. Reeves said an area around a storm-damaged beach boardwalk was closed after the boardwalk's support structure was ripped away and a fence was damaged nearby. Heavy surf and rip tides had already prompted warnings at Gulf Coast beaches for swimmers to stay out of the water, and strong gales earlier in the week knocked over a Waffle House sign onto a car in Panama City Beach, Florida.
SpaceX called off Thursday evening's planned Starship launch because of thick clouds associated with Bertha, then rescheduled the launch for Friday. Forecasters expected Bertha to dissipate by Friday, leaving southeast Texas with the question of how much rain and flooding arrives before the system breaks apart.
