Bertha batters Bermuda and heads to sea

HAMILTON, Bermuda (AP) — Tropical Storm Bertha headed back out over open ocean and away from the U.S. mainland Tuesday after it battered Bermuda, knocking out electricity to thousands on the Atlantic tourist island.

It is the longest-lived July tropical storm in history, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. Bertha is the Atlantic season’s first hurricane. It weakened into a tropical storm but was expected to re-strengthen into a hurricane by late Tuesday or early today, forecasters said.

The previous longest-lived storm, known as Storm No. 2, occurred in 1960 and lasted just over 12 days, according to forecaster Daniel Brown.

Bertha has lasted six hours longer, he said.

The storm was centered 315 miles northeast of Bermuda on Tuesday afternoon, with sustained winds near 70 mph, the center said. It had dumped 4.7 inches of rain on the island and was moving northeast at 9 mph.

In Bermuda, the government dispatched cleanup crews and expected to restore power to 200 remaining customers by the end of the day. Bertha’s heavy rains flooded roads and its winds felled utility poles, leaving up to 7,500 without electricity Monday. There were no reports of injuries.

Bertha whipped up dangerous rip currents along the U.S. East Coast from the Carolinas through southern New England, contributing to at least one drowning Saturday along a New Jersey beach, officials said.