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Tropical Storm Bertha weakens further as it inches closer to the southeast Louisiana coast 2%
By Marco Cartolano2%
7/22/2026, 11:45:00 AM
BS Summary: This article contains 9 faulty reasoning types, including Appeal to Authority, Unattributed Quote, and Loss Aversion, with Pessimism Bias as the most egregious example at 7.5% saturation with 31 hits. Analysis detected 174 faulty-reasoning hits from 414 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 11.8% and a BS Rank of 2% (19,470 of 19,796 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 98.40% of the article peer group.
Tropical Storm Bertha weakened slightly overnight and is set to make landfall in southeast Louisiana within 24 hours, forecasters with the National Hurricane Center said.
Most of the rain associated with Bertha remains south of the center as wind shear keeps the storm asymmetrical.
The risk of minor to moderate flooding from rain continued to decrease by 4 a.m.
Wednesday.
Much of the New Orleans area is under a tropical storm warning.
Bertha is on track to make landfall in Plaquemines Parish by Wednesday evening, and coastal parishes such as Plaquemines, Jefferson, Lafourche, and Terrebonne are particularly at risk of tropical storm conditions.
Coastal areas could see wind gusts, some locally heavy rainfall and up to 2 to 4 inches of coastal flooding through Thursday afternoon.
As of 7 a.m., Bertha was close to coastal southeast Louisiana, swirling about 45 miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River.
The storm was moving west at 5 mph and producing maximum sustained winds of 50 mph.
Bertha is projected to come ashore along the Louisiana coast by 4 p.m.
The storm is likely to weaken further before landfall.
It should reemerge in the Gulf waters by 1 p.m.
Thursday before becoming post-tropical system and dissipating over Texas Thursday evening into early Friday morning.
Parts of lower Plaquemines Parish are likely to see tropical storm wind gusts in the next few hours, forecasters with the National Weather Service New Orleans office said.
Reports of wind gusts of 30 to 40 mph in the open Gulf waters have already been recorded.
Warnings
A tropical storm warning has been issued from the Okaloosa/Walton County line in Florida to Morgan City, including the New Orleans metropolitan area and along Lake Pontchartrain
An additional tropical storm watch is in effect west of Morgan City to Sargent, Texas and Lake Maurepas.
The following areas in southeast Louisiana are under the tropical storm warning:
Central Jefferson
Central Plaquemines
Central St.
Charles
Coastal Jefferson
Eastern Orleans
Lower Lafourche
Lower Plaquemines
Lower St.Bernard
Lower St.
Charles
Lower Terrebonne
Southeast St.
Tammany
Upper Jefferson
Upper Plaquemines
Upper St.
Bernard
Upper St.
Charles
Western Orleans
The following are under a tropical storm warning:
St.
John The Baptist
Upper Lafourche
Upper Terrebonne
While the forecast projected that Bertha would have minor impacts on the New Orleans area, local officials made preparations to stay safe in the flood-prone region.
Email Marco Cartolano at Marco.Cartolano@theadvocate.com
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