NAPLES, Fla.—Tropical Storm Fay rolled ashore in southwestern Florida on Tuesday without much fanfare, but stubbornly hung around like an unwelcome houseguest, gaining power and threatening—once again—to become a hurricane.

The storm first hit the Florida Keys, veered out to sea and then traversed east across the state on a path that would curve it toward the Florida-Georgia border. The failure of Fay to weaken meant a whole new swath of the state had to prepare for a worse storm, and meant Florida could wind up getting hit three separate times.

“This storm is going to be with us for a while. That’s obvious now. It looks it could be a boomerang storm,” Gov. Charlie Crist said at a news conference.

By late Tuesday, a hurricane watch was posted for parts of north Florida and Georgia as Fay seemed to be resurrected by the flat, swampy Everglades, increasing the chances it could still end up strengthening into a hurricane.