Updated 5:18 PM ET
(CBS/AP) ST. GEORGE ISLAND, Fla. - Tropical Storm Debby has made landfall on the northwest coast of Florida.
The National Hurricane Center said Tuesday afternoon that Debby made landfall near Steinhatchee with top winds of 40 mph.
Debby is expected to weaken to a tropical depression Tuesday night.
Debby has drenched Florida for four straight days and forecasters warn that even though the storm is weakening, the threat of flooding remains.
The deluge has spoiled vacations for many visitors.
Earlier, Debby flooded homes, an animal shelter and closed parts of the main interstate highway across northern Florida on as the storm crept closer to the state, dropping more than two feet of rain in one sparsely populated area.
The tropical storm promised to bring more winds, rain and the possibility of flooding to the already saturated state.
The center of the storm was about 35 miles off the coast and moving northeast at 6 mph. Debby was weakening and had maximum sustained winds near 40 mph, barely a tropical storm.
TS Debby relentless in soggy assault on Fla.
Tropical Storm Debby appears to park itself off Florida coast
TS Debby relentless in soggy assault on Fla.
"Even though the winds are coming down, the rain threat continues," said James Franklin, a hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center. "We expect another 4 to 8 inches, in some of these areas up in north Florida, in particular."
Wakulla, a remote area in northwest Florida known for camping and canoeing, has had more than 26 inches over the past three days, according to the National Weather Service. Several other areas in northern Florida have received more than 10 inches.
Len Hoffmann tours a flooded section of Selkirk Street in New Port Richey, Fla. on June 26, 2012.
(Credit: Douglas R. Clifford,AP Photo/The Tampa Bay Times)
The Florida Highway Patrol closed portions of Interstate 10 when troopers reported several areas of flooding on a roughly 50-mile stretch. Authorities warned motorists to use extreme caution on other parts of the highway.
Farther south, four puppies and a young dog drowned when a swollen creek flooded an animal shelter in the city of Starke. Officials placed sandbags and dug trenches outside to protect the shelter, but the water rose quickly Sunday night, The Florida Times-Union reported.
A manatee was found dead in the Tampa Bay area and wildlife crews were trying to rescue two others that had beached nearby. It wasn't immediately clear whether the storm contributed to the animals washing ashore.
An abandoned truck sits stuck in high water in Jacksonville, Fla. Tuesday, June 26, 2012.
(Credit: Kelly Jordan,AP Photo/The Florida Times-Union)
Roads were washed out in the area and residents tried to salvage belongings from flooded homes in low-lying areas. At one point Monday, high winds and flooding worries prompted authorities to close two major routes over Tampa Bay into St. Petersburg.The storm could also bring up to 10 inches of rain to southeastern Georgia.
Without even making landfall, the system triggered at least 20 reports of tornadoes.
"All of a sudden, it gets very quiet, and I thought, 'Oh, the storm is over. ... Then I heard this explosion, and I heard this pow!" Cleo Robertson told "CBS This Morning."
The 73 year old watched anxiously as a possible twister closed in on her home in hard-hit Pasagrill Sunday.
Rains from Tropical Storm Debby force residents of the Suncoast Gateway Mobile Village to make their way through a flooded street in a boat, June 26, 2012, in New Port Richey, Fla.
(Credit: AP Photo/John Raoux)
It tore through her neighbor's home before jumping to hers - one of the oldest houses in the community."All the people ... came out of (an) apartment, six of them, scared to death. They had to be evacuated, because their roof was gone," Robertson said.
At least one person was killed Sunday by a tornado spun off by the large storm system.
WFLA-TV reported that a young mother, Heather Town, died Sunday when her Highlands County home was lifted off its foundation and she and her baby girl were thrown into nearby woods. The mother was found clutching the child, who survived.
Alabama authorities searched for a South Carolina man who disappeared in the rough surf.
The bridge leading to St. George Island, a vacation spot along the Panhandle, was closed to everyone except residents, renters and business owners to keep looters out. The island had no power, and palm trees had been blown down, but roads were passable.
"Most true islanders are hanging in there because they know that you may or may not be able to get back to your home when you need to," said David Walker, an island resident having a beer at Eddy Teach's bar. He said he had been through many storms on the island and Debby was on the weaker end of the scale.
Standing water from Tropical Storm Debby floods the Suncoast Gateway Mobile Village, Tuesday, June 26, 2012, in New Port Richey, Fla.
(Credit: AP Photo/John Raoux)
Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared a statewide emergency, allowing authorities to put laws against price-gouging into effect and override bureaucratic hurdles to deal with the storm.A tropical storm warning remained in effect Tuesday morning for about 450 miles of coastline, from Mexico Beach in the Panhandle to Englewood, south of Sarasota.
Forecasters cautioned that Debby is a large tropical cyclone spreading strong winds and heavy rains at great distances from its center.
People in several sparsely populated counties near the crook of Florida's elbow were urged to leave low-lying neighborhoods because of the danger of flooding.
Residents waded in knee-deep water Monday as sinkholes popped up in other neighborhoods, a truck teetering over one gaping hole.
By the end of the week, Debby could dump more than two feet of rain on some coastal communities.
While the storm has helped ease Florida's drought conditions, most of those affected are ready to see Debby move on.
Some 30,000 customers had lost power due to Debby, and officials said they expect many more outages as Debby makes landfall.