Hanna storms into Mobile

Wind speeds of some 50 mph, storm surges 2 to 4 feet

Hanna's forecasted path is tracked in this National Hurricane Center map. The black line and dots show Hanna's center and the times it's expected to hit. The white area indicates where Hanna's location may vary.

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- After teasing the Gulf Coast for two days with listless meandering far off shore, Tropical Storm Hanna took a deep breath and came ashore Saturday near the Alabama-Mississippi state line.

At 11 a.m. ET, Hanna's 50 mph winds blasted the coast and pushed storm surges of 2 feet to 4 feet higher than normal, flooding some low-lying areas, particularly in coastal Mobile and Baldwin counties.

Located "very near" Mobile, Alabama, and heading to the northeast at 10 mph, the storm's forward speed will likely increase and its strength decrease in the next 24 hours, forecasters said. Four inches of rain fell on Fort Morgan, Alabama, Saturday morning.

CNN NewsPass VIDEO Tropical Storm Hanna came ashore Saturday near the Alabama-Mississippi state line. (September 14) Play video   EXTRA INFORMATION As seen in this gallery of images,  Hanna's approach has brought much-needed rain to the Gulf coast.   IN-DEPTH Hurricane Season 2002    TROPICAL STORM HANNA As of 11 a.m. EDT on September 14 Latitude: 30.5 North Longitude: 88.2 West

With tropical storm-force winds extending 145 miles from the center, the coast felt the effects long before Hanna crossed the shoreline. Most of the storm's hazards were located east of the center, the National Weather Service said.

The Weather Service dropped a tropical storm warning from Grand Isle, Louisiana, to Pascagoula, Mississippi, but left in effect a warning from Pascagoula east to Apalachicola, Florida. That warning was likely to be discontinued later Saturday, forecasters said.

They said they expect Hanna to head north through southern Alabama Saturday, then through northern Georgia, North Carolina and out to the Atlantic Ocean by Monday.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, about half the nation has been affected by drought this year, and many residents in Tropical Storm Hanna's projected path welcomed the rain.

Hanna already has dumped heavy rain in the Florida peninsula, well east of the storm. So far this year, Florida's Panhandle has an annual rainfall deficit of up to 13 inches.

According to the Weather Service, 4 inches to 5 inches of rain has fallen along the Florida coast in Wakulla and Franklin counties. Bands of rain also moved into north Georgia.

Rainfall amounts of 4 inches to 8 inches are forecast, along with large waves and dangerous rip currents along the Gulf Coast. Isolated tornadoes were also possible in southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.

Hanna took shape Thursday as the season's first hurricane, Gustav, sped away into the Labrador Sea off Canada. As a tropical storm earlier this week, Gustav tormented North Carolina's Outer Banks before racing northeastward offshore of the Eastern Seaboard and reaching hurricane strength near Canada, far north of its tropical birthplace.