ORLANDO, Fla. -- Heavy rains dumped in Central Florida by Tropical Storm Fay are threatening to cause rivers to crest and flood neighborhoods even after the system moves out of the area this weekend.

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IMAGES: Top Viewer Flood Photos Top Images
IMAGES: Fay Floods Hospital; Diverts Patients
IMAGES: Canoes - Airboats Used To Flee Floods

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"The St. Johns River is under the gun for flooding," Local 6 meteorologist Eric Wilson said. "(It's) not just today but for the next seven days because 10 inches of rain have fallen (north of the river) and 20 inches of rain have fallen (south of river). It takes days for it to percolate."

Astor was already over flood stage at the St. Johns River and has been forecasted to get even higher.

"Isn't it amazing that something that did not become a hurricane can cause so much damage," Wilson said. "We are talking about rain -- two feet of rain."

How high the rivers rise depends on how much rain falls in the next two days.

"Rivers are getting very close to flood stage in some areas," Local 6 meteorologist Rob Eicher said. "The crest is still several days -- maybe a week or more -- away depending on how much afternoon shower and thunderstorm activity we get in the next couple of days."

In 2004, flooding from rivers flooded posed a problem for several communities.

"If you were anywhere around the area in 2004, you know exactly what we are talking about," Wilson said. "It can be sunny out next week and you are still going to see these (rivers) rise."

Lake Harney was forecast to get close to flood stage in the next few days.

"It's the same in Sanford," Eicher said. "If you remember in 2004, during the hurricanes, we had Lake Monroe came up over the Riverwalk area and we had alligators swimming around in some of the main thoroughfares in downtown Sanford in 2004."

Fay Tracks Away From Central Fla.

Fay continued to move west and out of Florida early Saturday but could still make a history-making fourth landfall in the state.

The system dumped record-breaking amounts of rain on Central Florida this week after making three landfalls in the state.

"It is only the fourth time in history that Florida has been hit by the same storm three time," Local 6 meteorologist Tom Sorrells said. "The last time it happened was 1960 with Donna. This is one for the record books -- historical rain and historical land strikes."

Sorrells said the storm may make landfall in Mississippi over the weekend but another state hit is possible.

"If it works its way up into a tropical storm, it will be the fourth land strike that Fay put on Florida during one session," Sorrells said. "I don't think it has every happened before. Only three other storms have ever hit us three times. It has just been a weird run."

Fay was located south of Tallahassee early Saturday.

Fay Floods Hospital

Rising waters from Tropical Storm Fay flooded a Central Florida hospital's emergency room entrance and forced officials to divert patients away from the facility Thursday night.

"This is definitely something we consider very serious," Florida Hospital Fish Memorial Administrator Joe Johnson said. "We are looking at an 'all hands on deck' kind of thing where we call in extra help. This is not something you see every day."

Rising waters cut off access to the emergency room and filled the entrance.

"Because of the flooding and debris that is clogging our access to the campus we have asked the county to divert patients from coming to us for a while through the ambulance system,' Johnson said.

Johnson said waters from surrounding areas rushed through the hospital campus like rivers and to the building.

Officials were considering moving patients to higher floors to escape the water.

"We want to make sure everything on the lowest floors is protected," Florida Hospital Fish Memorial Administer Joe Johnson said. "We got a lot of supplies and equipment. So, patients can be moved up to higher floors if necessary. But clearly, if there is any danger that is the first thing we will do. Get them out if necessary."

Existing patients were still being treated at the hospital but Johnson said they could be moved if waters continued to rise

Gov. Crist Tours Flooded Cities

Also, initial damage estimates for one of the most flooded cities in Central Florida will top $10 million and leave hundreds of homes with water damage.

Several hundred homes in Melbourne have three to four feet of standing water inside of them Thursday after days of pounding rain from Tropical Storm Fay, Local 6's News partner Florida Today reported.

The city of Melbourne's emergency manager said the $10 to $12 million damage estimate does not include the Lamplighter Village community -- which is submerged under chest-high water.

Gov. Charlie Crist toured Lamplighter Village -- a community of 600 homes near Interstate 95 -- in a swamp buggy.

"I couldn't believe all of the water," Crist said.

Crist said the area is the worse hit -- by far, Local 6's Adam Longo reported.

"We've lived through several hurricanes and (I have seen) nothing like this," flood victim Timothy Tucker said.

There is still about four or five feet of standing water in and around Lamplighter homes.

"I saw water in my house and I'm like, 'Oh my God,'" Lamplighter Village resident Wayne Wyckoff said. "Cars were stuck and wreckers were pulling them out and I knew that I was going to lose everything. Everything is flooded. I lost everything."

The National Guard has been the only personnel allowed into the subdivision to help the remaining people still inside their homes.

There are five shelters in the county with about 106 people inside. However, the number was expected to grow Thursday night.

Also, the Department of Natural Resources said a preliminary estimate of damage to the Brevard County beaches is about $2.6 million.

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.