Tropical Storm Bertha makes landfall on southern Louisiana with threatening winds

Tropical Storm Bertha crawled onto the southern tip of Louisiana on Wednesday, making landfall and packing strong winds far from its center after closing beaches from the Florida Panhandle to Mississippi.

The Miami-based National Hurricane Center said Bertha made landfall in St. Bernard Parish, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) east of New Orleans and 45 miles (72 kilometers) southwest of Biloxi, Mississippi.

Damaging wind and storm surge are the main threats for the Deep South states. A tropical storm warning along the Gulf Coast includes New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain, the National Hurricane Center said.

Tropical storm force winds extend over 100 miles (160 kilometers) out from the center of Bertha, the hurricane center said.

Bertha is expected to continue losing strength over the next few days as it heads toward Texas after the storm earlier trudged past the Florida Panhandle and the tips of Alabama and Mississippi.

Storm surge up to 3 feet (1 meter) is possible in Louisiana as well as heavy rain in some areas, forecasters said.

Sandbag distribution sites set up

Authorities in Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida opened sites to provide sandbags to residents while red flag warnings were posted along some beaches advising swimmers about the dangers of rip tides. Up and down the coast, double red flags signaled that Gulf waters were closed for swimming.

Beaches near Pensacola, Florida, were mostly deserted except for tourists taking photos of the pounding surf.

“For locals, this is just another storm,” said Candice Henderson, manager of the Crab Trap, a beachside restaurant that was packed Tuesday on Pensacola’s Perdido Key. “When you’re on vacation and it’s raining, you either shop or you go out to eat.”

Bertha is the second tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season

Bertha is the second tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. Tropical Storm Arthur in June brought heavy rainfall to the southeastern U.S.

Bertha could dump heavy rain on coastal areas of Mississippi that are still recovering from flooding brought by Arthur that destroyed and damaged homes.

“Because of that, people are definitely paying attention, or at least you would hope so,” said Jeff Clark, a spokesperson for Mississippi’s Harrison County, where six sites were open for sandbag distribution.

There had not been a need by Tuesday to open shelters or order evacuations, Clark said.

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

Hurricane Fausto churns in the Pacific

In the eastern Pacific Ocean, Hurricane Fausto churned far from land Tuesday. The hurricane was about 805 miles (1,295 kilometers) west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California moving west-northwest at 9 mph (15 kph) with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 kph).

It was forecast to gradually strengthen and the hurricane center warned that ocean swells generated by Fausto could cause life-threatening surf and rip tide conditions on the Baja California coast.

Associated Press journalists Kimberly Chandler in Montgomery, Alabama, Stephen Smith in New Orleans and Haya Panjwani in Washington contributed to this report.