Hurricane Bertha (1996) Hurricane Bertha (1996) Hurricane Bertha was an intense and early-forming major hurricane that affected areas from the Leeward Islands to the United States in July of the 1996 Atlantic hurricane season. The second tropical cyclone and named storm during the season, Bertha originated from a tropical wave that moved off the coast of Africa in early July. Steadily organizing while moving generally towards the west, the disturbance was designated as a tropical depression at 0000 UTC on July 5, and was further upgraded to a tropical storm by 1200 UTC later that day. Over the next few days, continued intensification
Bertha of Swabia of Upper Burgundy had campaigned the adjacent Swabian Thurgau region several times, and the marriage was meant as a gesture of reconciliation. With her husband Rudolph, Bertha founded the church of Amseltingen/Amsoltingen. Rudolph died in 937, whereupon Bertha married King Hugh of Italy in what is today Colombier on 12 December 937. This marriage was not a happy one; when Hugh died in 947, Bertha returned to Burgundy. Between 950 and 960, Bertha founded Payerne Priory, where she was buried. Up to today she is venerated as "Good Queen Bertha" ("La reine Berthe") in the Swiss Romandy region, mainly in