Tropical Storm Bertha expected to bring heavy rain and flooding to Florida, Louisiana coasts

Tropical Storm Bertha is expected to weaken on Tuesday as it approaches the Gulf Coast — but it could still pack a punch, bringing flooding and heavy rain from western Florida to Louisiana.

Bertha, the second tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, was churning in the waters 90 miles south-southwest of Panana City, Florida and packing maximum sustained winds of 60 mph, meteorologist said.

The storm was moving northwest at 5 mph and is expected to lose strenght as it gets closer to land.

Christian Mosley-Richardson, left, helps Johnisha West fill sandbags ahead of Tropical Storm Bertha at Morris FX Jeff Sr. Park in Algiers, New Orleans, Monday, July 20, 2026. David Grunfeld/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP

“Bertha is expected to lose wind intensity over the Gulf Coast, with its heaviest rain remaining from the Florida panhandle to mainly coastal areas of Louisiana and Texas,” Accuweather meteorologist Carl Erickson told The Post.

A tropical storm warning, meaning the conditions are expected within 36 hours, is in effect from the Florida-Alabama border to Terrebonne-Lafourche Parish Line in Louisiana.

New Orleans remains under a tropical storm watch but the forecast calls for a gradual weakening Wednesday through Friday.

Erickson explained to The Post that the speedy development of the storm shows how little time that communities have to prepare for extreme weather. 

“The early development of Arthur and Bertha is a reminder that storms forming close to the United States can leave communities with very little preparation time,” he said

“It does not mean the entire season will be unusually active, but it reinforces why everyone from the Gulf Coast through the Northeast should remain prepared as we approach the climatological peak of hurricane season.”

Authorities in Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida are providing sandbags to residents in preparation for the storm and putting out signs that warn swimmers about the dangers of rip tides. 

Forecasts called for 2 to 4 inches of rain from western Florida to the southern Louisiana coastline, with higher amounts in some scattered areas.

This NOAA satellite image taken at 10:30 a.m. EST on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, shows Tropical Storm Bertha moving along the Gulf of Mexico’s northern coast. NOAA via AP

The Northeast is largely in the clear, according to Erickson. 

“Any rain that happens to fall in the Mid-Atlantic or Northeast later this week or this weekend would be unrelated to Bertha.”

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration expects this year to see a below-average Atlantic hurricane season although that doesn’t eliminate the chances of a catastrophic storm.

With Post wires