Hurricane Bertha (2008) completed by 12:00 UTC on July 20. The post-tropical cyclone continued northeast and merged with a larger mid-latitude low near Iceland the next day. As a tropical storm, Bertha dropped rainfall over the southern Cape Verde islands. No damages or deaths were reported. On July 7, Bermuda residents began purchasing lamps, tarpaulins and flashlights in anticipation of Hurricane Bertha. In the sudden rush, some stores sold out of batteries. The Emergency Measures Organisation urged the public to monitor forecasts and remain away from beaches. The Bermuda Weather Service, meanwhile, hoisted tropical cyclone warnings and watches for the island upon its
Bertha Benz hope." In 2008, the Bertha Benz Memorial Route was officially approved as a route of the industrial heritage of mankind, because it follows Bertha Benz's path during the world's first long-distance journey by automobile in 1888. Now it is possible to follow the 194 km of signs indicating her route from Mannheim via Heidelberg to Pforzheim (Black Forest) and back. The "Bertha Benz Challenge", embedded in the framework of the ceremony of "Automobile Summer 2011", the big official German event and birthday party commemorating the invention of the automobile by Karl Benz over , took place on Bertha Benz Memorial