( CNN ) -- There have been bigger storms before , with stronger winds . Still , Tropical Storm Andrea is already packing a wet wallop -- and it is expected to soak millions along the Eastern Seaboard by the time it runs its course . It still packed damaging winds . A woman in Palm Beach County , Florida , was seriously injured Thursday night when she was hit by debris from an oak tree that flew through a bedroom window , the National Weather Service in Miami said . Flash-flood warnings extended from the Sunshine State through coastal communities north to Virginia . An even broader swath of the East Coast -- including parts of 13 states , from Georgia to Maine -- is under flash-flood watches , meaning a sudden deluge of rain could overwhelm sewers , cause rivers and creeks to overrun their banks and more through the weekend . The watch area includes Washington , which the National Weather Service predicts could get up to 6 inches of rain Friday , and New York City , where forecasters say 1 to 2 inches of rain an hour could fall at times into Saturday . Even Maine 's coast , including Portland , could see as much as 3 inches of rain by the time this weekend is done . Follow the storm on CNN.com 's hurricane tracker . All this comes from a storm that , as it passed through the Gulf of Mexico , never ascended to hurricane status -- it needed to have sustained winds of 74 mph or more to get that honor -- and then weakened , as far as wind speeds , as it passed over land Thursday evening . As of 11 p.m. Thursday -- five hours after making landfall in the swampy , sparsely populated Big Bend region of Florida , about 180 miles north of Tampa -- Andrea was centered about 40 miles west of Jacksonville , Florida , and 65 miles east-southeast of Valdosta , Georgia . The storm had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph , down substantially from when it made landfall , according to the National Hurricane Center . Despite warnings that storm surges plus torrential rains could equal major flooding , Taylor County Emergency Management Director Dustin Hinkel said Andrea was bringing precipitation and high winds , but little trouble . Predictions for 2013 Atlantic hurricane season . `` We 've had good luck with the storm coming ashore during low tide , so we have had some very , very minor coastal flooding so far , '' Hinkel said . `` The rain has been very manageable here . '' His county issued only a voluntary evacuation call as the storm neared , aimed at people living in mobile homes and older buildings , Hinkel said . No evacuations were ordered in Dixie County , to the south , said Tim Alexander , the emergency services director there . On Thursday night , a tropical storm warning extended from Flagler Beach , Florida , to Cape Charles Light , Virginia . It 's also in effect for the Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds and the lower Chesapeake Bay south of New Point Comfort , Virginia . Such a warning means that tropical storm conditions -- with sustained winds in excess of 39 mph -- are likely within the next 36 hours . The forecast calls for Andrea to keep its strength `` during the next day or so ( before losing ) its tropical characteristics by Saturday , '' the hurricane center says . Fast facts on hurricane season . Andrea chugged inland over northern Florida on Thursday night , with wind and rain bands `` spreading northward well ahead of the center , '' the Miami-based center reported . The storm was then moving northeast at a 15 mph clip , with the forecast calling for it to move along even faster as it enters overnight into southeastern Georgia and eventually moves northeastward along the East Coast . The projected path is similar to Tropical Storm Debby nearly a year ago . Debby dumped up to 2 feet of rain onto the low-lying region , causing extensive flooding in some coastal towns . `` The combination of a storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters , '' warns the hurricane center in its forecast . Hurricane statistics to know . CNN meteorologists Sean Morris and Ivan Cabrera , and CNN 's Holly Yan and Ashley Fantz contributed to this report .
Woman is hospitalized after being hit by debris that crashes through window . Flash flood watches extend up the East Coast , from Florida to Maine . Washington and New York are among the cities that may see Andrea-related flooding . Comment: