Tropical Storm Bertha Makes Two Landfalls Along the Louisiana Coast
The season's second named storm came ashore in St. Bernard Parish with 45 mph winds, then again near the Texas line a day later, bringing surge and heavy rain but weakening quickly over land.
Tropical Storm Bertha made landfall in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, about 40 miles east of New Orleans, on the afternoon of Wednesday, July 22, with maximum sustained winds of about 45 mph, the National Hurricane Center said. It was Louisiana's first direct hit of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, The Advocate reports. Tropical-storm-force winds reached as far as 160 miles from the center, and a gust of 44 mph was recorded at New Orleans Lakefront Airport, the Associated Press reported; storm surge up to 3 feet was possible.
Bertha moved back over the Gulf and made a second landfall on Thursday afternoon, July 23, near the Louisiana-Texas line, about 75 miles northeast of Galveston, the hurricane center said, and was expected to weaken rapidly over land, with some coastal surge and isolated flash flooding possible. Bertha is the second named storm of the season, after Tropical Storm Arthur in June. The National Hurricane Center posts every advisory and forecast at nhc.noaa.gov.
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