Tropical Storm Bertha is fading, but its moisture plume is fueling a serious East Coast flood threat

[Breaking news update, published at 2:05 p.m. ET] Tropical Storm Bertha had moved inland as of 2 p.m. ET, according to the National Hurricane Center, and is now over the Texas-Louisiana border. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph, according to the center’s update. Bertha is expected to dissipate by Friday morning as it tracks farther inland. Major impacts are not expected in Texas, but the storm is kicking up winds on the coast and fueling showers and storms deep into South Texas. [Original story below, published at 12:59 p.m. ET] Bertha will make its final landfall on the northwest Gulf Coast later Thursday, bringing with it tropical storm-force wind gusts and rainfall to parts of the Texas and Louisiana coastlines. But its most widespread flooding rain threat is unfolding hundreds of miles away in the East.