BEIJING - China was bracing itself yet again Monday as an approaching storm threatened to worsen floods that have already officially taken around 250 lives -- and perhaps many more -- over the past two weeks. Forecasts that tropical storm Vongfong would hit the Chinese mainland forced the central government to issue a flood warning, urging residents and authorities to take necessary precautions, the China Daily reported.

Seas off the southern province of Guangdong were battered by heavy winds as Vongfong -- named after an insect that inflicts a painful sting -- moved towards land, the state-controlled China Daily said. As of noon Monday (0400 GMT), Vongfong was located off the east coast of China's tropical island province of Hainan, according to the Hong Kong Observatory.

A Hainan provincial anti-flood official told AFP by telephone the storm would probably make landfall on the island Monday evening or early Tuesday. The storm, the 14th to hit China so far this year, will become stronger before it eventually hits the mainland, the China Daily warned.

Around 1,000 people have died in floods around China this year, a figure based on official statistics and subsequent reports. The vast majority were killed during the summer as torrential rain struck a series of regions around the country, triggering landslides and swelling rivers above danger levels. State media reported over the weekend that almost 250 people had died during the past fortnight in torrential rains across large parts of China, including 108 in the central province of Hunan.

Scenes of misery were widespread in the mountainous province as farmers saw their lives destroyed by flash floods and landslides, according to Red Cross officials who visited the area. Tents will be distributed, but more aid will be needed as many Hunan farmers have seen their harvest -- the only one of the entire year -- ruined by the floods. This could spell further disaster, because Dongting is on the flood-prone Yangtze and acts as a buffer for the river.

Around 4,000 people died in 1998 when the Yangtze burst its banks, and some anti-flood officials have already expressed fears that this year's toll could rival that disaster.

In southwestern Yunnan province, torrential rain and floods have left 106 dead and 72 missing in the mountainous province since the beginning of the month, according to state newspapers.

Copyright 2002 AFP & Weatheronline