Meanwhile, in Florida...
Tropical Storm Bertha is seen in the Gulf of Mexico via satellite photo. Credit: AP/Uncredited
While Long Island prepares for severe storms, Tropical Storm Bertha has been strengthening in the Gulf of Mexico and was moving slowly toward the Florida Panhandle and Alabama, causing a tropical storm warning and storm surge watches, forecasters said.
The storm was about 110 miles south of Panama City, Florida, and 170 miles southeast of Mobile, Alabama, and moving northwest at 5 mph with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (80 kph), the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said Tuesday morning.
The wind speed increased by 10 mph since Bertha formed Monday night. A tropical storm warning, meaning the conditions are expected within the warning area within 36 hours, was in effect early Tuesday from the Florida and Alabama border to the Jefferson and Plaquemines parish line in Louisiana.
A storm surge watch, indicating rising, possible life-threatening water moving inland from the coast within 48 hours, was issued from the Alabama and Florida border to the mouth of the Mississippi River, the hurricane center reported.
To read more on Tropical Storm Bertha, click here.
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