Tropical Storm Bertha made a second landfall Thursday near the Texas-Louisiana state line after first striking Louisiana on Wednesday, then moved inland about 75 miles northeast of Galveston, Texas, with 45 mph winds. Forecasters said the storm was still strong enough to keep a tropical storm warning in effect from Morgan City, Louisiana, to Sargent, Texas, even as it weakened.
The timing mattered because Bertha was still active along the Gulf Coast on Thursday afternoon, when tropical-storm-force winds stretched as far as 160 miles from the center and the National Hurricane Center warned of up to 2 feet of storm surge and isolated flash flooding from heavy rain in coastal and south Texas. SpaceX also called off Thursday evening's planned Starship launch from the southern tip of Texas because of thick clouds tied to the storm, and the flight was pushed to Friday.
Jesi Hahn, who works at the Galveston Historic Seaport, said the seaport would stay open and added that it usually closes for big hurricanes. That small decision fit the larger picture around Bertha: local places were still taking precautions, but the storm's effects were limited enough that no deaths or significant damage had been reported since it formed Monday in the Gulf of Mexico south of the Florida Panhandle. Galveston's Office of Emergency Management urged residents to brace for a windy day and secure outdoor objects, while the seaport canceled sightseeing boat tours Thursday afternoon and officials in Pensacola closed an area around a storm-damaged beach boardwalk.
The friction was clear in the weather itself. Bertha's heaviest rain stayed over the Gulf waters during its first landfall, and rain south of its center began moving inland along Texas' southeastern coast Thursday afternoon, but there was still no sign of the kind of destruction that usually follows a storm close enough to trigger warnings, flooding concerns and a launch cancellation. Forecasters expected Bertha to dissipate by Friday, which leaves the main unanswered question not whether the storm will fade, but how much rain, if any, it leaves behind as it washes out over southeast Texas.
