CAPE CANAVERAL -- While most people hope Hurricane Bertha stays on its current course, far out to sea, the surf industry hopes it heads a bit closer to the Central Florida coast.
At the Cocoa Beach pier waves this week are almost non-existent, but when a storm rolls in the waves can move all the way up to the boardwalk,.
A sign at Cape Canaveral's Cape Surf Shop says it all -- "We need waves."
The store's owner says Big Bertha could mean big business.
"We're kind of looking forward, hopefully, to getting some waves from the storm, Bertha," said Mike Floyd, the owner of Cape Surf Shop.
For weeks the Brevard Coast has been lacking much of a swell, and the for the area's surf industry, that is a tsunami-sized problem.
"When it's flat, we're normally flat," Floyd said.
So surf watchers are watching the weather -- not wanting a Central Florida hurricane hit -- but maybe a shove.
"We're hoping, maybe, it gets a hundred miles off shore. It'll help business," Floyd said.
News 13's meteorologists say the earliest Bertha could affect Central Florida's surf is Saturday, and even then, if it stays on its current course, it might not be much.
The National Hurricane Center said Bertha would likely be a Category 2 storm by the end of the day Monday.
It said the more the storm strengthens, the more likely it will curve further away from the United States.
News 13 tracks the tropics at :21 and :51 in the Tropical Update. You can also get the latest on the tropics at News 13's Hurricane Center.
There's an entire section devoted to hurricane preparation and information on News 13 On Demand, Digital Cable Channel 313.
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