Bertha lowered to tropical depression
Relentless rain to continue in saturated South Florida
Bertha, the second named storm of 2020, formed ahead of the official start of hurricane season.
Bertha formed off the coast of South Carolina at about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. It made landfall as a tropical storm about 9:30 a.m. east of Charleston with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph and moving north at 15 mph. It later weakened to a tropical depression and prompted flash flood warnings in parts of the Carolinas and Virginia, according to the 2 p.m. update from the National Hurricane Center.
Meanwhile, the relentless rain drenching South Florida continued for a fourth consecutive day. The National Weather Service is predicting rainfall amounts up to 2 inches, leading to possible significant flooding.
A flash flood warning is in effect for South Florida’s east coast until 10 p.m., and the area is under
a severe weather warning until 9 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.
Gusty winds could also produce rough marine conditions and life-threatening surf and rip currents along the coasts of eastern Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas through Wednesday, the hurricane center said.
On Tuesday, record-setting rainfall caused a flood warning for central Broward County through northern Miami-Dade from 9 p.m. to midnight. Miami International Airport recorded 7.4 inches of rain Tuesday, more than doubling the previous rainfall record of 3.5 inches set in 1905. Fort Lauderdale picked up 4.86 inches of rain, breaking the old record of 2.04 inches set in 1981, and West Palm Beach had 6.73 inches of rain. Street flooding was reported in some low-lying areas, including in Dania Beach, Hallandale Beach, Hollywood, Miami Beach, Aventura, Hialeah, and the Brickell area of Miami.
On Monday night, more than 4 inches of rain fell within an hour in some parts of South Florida.