Tropical Storm Bertha Batters Gulf Coast, Unleashing Major Flooding

A strong tropical storm barreled into the Gulf Coast on Wednesday, stranding residents and sending floodwater into homes and businesses across parts of the South.

Tropical Storm Bertha came ashore Wednesday afternoon in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, roughly 40 miles east of New Orleans, with maximum sustained winds near 45 mph.

The storm’s winds reached far beyond its center, extending as much as 160 miles and toppling a Waffle House sign onto a car in Panama City Beach, Florida.

Forecasters now expect Bertha to hold tropical storm strength as it moves toward the upper Texas coast on Thursday. Late Wednesday night, the National Hurricane Center expanded Tropical Storm Warnings from Cameron, Louisiana, to Sargent, Texas.

A Tropical Storm Warning also remained in place for the Alabama-Mississippi border and the New Orleans metropolitan area, while parks and piers along the coast stayed closed amid widespread flooding.

Flood watches were still active Wednesday night across eastern Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina.

In West Virginia, Governor Patrick Morrisey deployed hundreds of National Guard members to the hardest-hit communities in the northern part of the state after declaring a state of emergency in all 55 counties.

Morrisey said at a Wednesday night news conference that the state Division of Natural Resources had already taken part in 85 rescues, while 19 National Guard and state police helicopters were either carrying out rescue missions or on standby if needed.

Three shelters that were opened Wednesday housed a total of more than 100 residents, he added.

When he was then asked whether anyone was unaccounted for, Morrisey replied: ‘We don’t have an exact number but we are concerned about fatalities,’ adding that ‘as soon as we have more information’ officials will provide details. 

‘This is a time for West Virginians to come together to do everything possible, not only to pray for all those who are affected, but we´re going to need a lot of help in the days and weeks ahead,’ he said. ‘Let’s help these communities rebuild.’ 

Forecasters said up to seven inches of rain fell in West Virginia, with Morrisey claiming some parts of the state received 4.5 inches in just 37 minutes.

‘There´s no place for the water to go,’ he said.

Video and photos on social media showed submerged vehicles in parking lots, including at a Walmart in Weston where muddy water surged far into the store. Across a nearby highway, a hotel’s main floor was inundated.

Emergency crews reported dozens of rescues of people stuck in submerged vehicles. However, some rescuers were unable to get to locations where floodwaters had cut off access.

But West Virginia was not the only state that was inundated with flooding as the closure of portions of Interstate 79, US Route 48 and numerous secondary roads. 

In Alabama, vehicles were seen becoming trapped in the sand on the west end of Dauphin Island overnight as waves crashed onto the shore and water levels rose quickly, according to Fox 10. 

Some bystanders were then seen grabbing a shovel and digging around the wheels of an SUV in a desperate attempt to free it from the water.

In Tennessee, Lisa Rocca told News Channel 5 her home’s foundation was slowly eroding from the flood water.

And at Ailor Gap Farms in Maynardville, Tennessee, owner Dan Woodcock said the remainder of this year’s harvest was wiped out from the flash flooding.

He told 10 News how the creek behind his property rose quickly during the storm surge, damaging about $8,000 to $10,000 in crops.

In the more than 30 years he lived in the area, Woodcock said he had only seen the water level get that high once before. 

He also described Wednesday’s flooding as a once-in-100 year event, with the water rising four feet and taking out all of the crops in his garden. 

‘This event carried fallen trees from upstream that had just been accumulating,’ he explained. ‘The trees and the debris or whatever wreaked havoc on everything, just destroyed it.’

Even though Woodcock said he built the farm to withstand flooding he ‘forgot about the debris.’

‘I should have known better,’ he admitted. ‘I mean, I was raised on the Gulf Coast and hurricanes. I should have known debris is what destroys everything more than water.’

Woodcock now plans on growing another crop to reduce the huge loss he is facing. But by the end of the season, the family farm may still be $3,000 to $5,000 in debt.

Despite the setback, though, Woodcock said he is not looking for donations.

‘It’s a big number and I’m on disability, so I have a very limited income. That’s two to three months’ worth of disability checks. So it’s quite an impact,’ he admitted. 

‘But we don’t need too much here; everything we have is paid for, so we’re OK. We’re going to be fine.’

Instead of donations, Woodcock said he is welcoming anyone who wishes to help with the cleanup efforts – and is encouraging people to support him by doing business with him and other local farmers. 

The heavy rains on Wednesday were part of wide-ranging storms – which also produced reports of tornadoes – stretching from the Cincinnati area across New Jersey to the New York City suburbs. 

Damage from a possible tornado was reported in the area of St. Marys and Belmont in West Virginia.

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

But Bertha is now expected to dissipate inland in Texas by Friday, the National Hurricane Center said.

Meanwhile, in the eastern Pacific Ocean, Hurricane Fausto churned hundreds of miles west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph.

It was forecast to gradually strengthen – with its swells spreading along the Baja California coast where it is likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip tides.