Tropical Storm Bertha, with winds of 60mph, due to make landfall in Louisiana | US News

Tropical Storm Bertha is due to make landfall in Louisiana late on Wednesday, with forecasters predicting heavy rain and localised flooding. 

Bertha, the second named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, had maximum sustained winds of 60mph and was 105 miles south-southeast of Mobile Alabama, as of midnight, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).

Tropical storm warnings are in place from Florida’s Panhandle westward into coastal Louisiana – including metropolitan New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain.

The NHC has warned those on holiday and living in the affected areas of dangerous surf and rip currents.

Communities on the US Gulf Coast distributed sandbags and closed beaches ahead of the storm’s arrival.

Forecasters have warned the storm is likely to bring several inches of rain along parts of the central Gulf Coast throughout Thursday, potentially leading to localised flooding.

Ahead of the storm’s arrival, Chevron said it was shutting in production at its Petronius facility ‌in the Gulf of Mexico as a precaution.

In addition, the major US oil firm said it was transporting nonessential personnel from its two other platforms.

A gradual weakening of the tropical storm was forecast on Wednesday through Friday.

‘Numerous severe thunderstorms’

Further north in the US, the National Weather Service warned that numerous severe thunderstorms were expected in the country’s northeast.

It said the severe thunderstorms were expected from the Ohio Valley into the Mid-Atlantic region.

Forecasters said swathes of damaging wind gusts were likely, and some tornadoes could develop as the storms tracked eastward.

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New York City had been under a tornado watch for Tuesday night, but that was rescinded.

Elsewhere, tornadoes were possible in connection with severe storms within the Tennessee Valley and into the Mid-Atlantic region, the weather service said.

The risk of flash flooding in parts of the northeast is also increased as the storm system is expected to bring heavy rainfall in areas already saturated by recent wet weather.