BEIJING -- China was bracing itself yet again Monday as an approaching tropical storm threatened to worsen floods that have already taken around 250 lives over the past two weeks.

Forecasts that tropical storm Vongfong would hit the Chinese mainland forced the State Council, China's cabinet, to issue a flood warning, urging residents and authorities to take necessary precautions, the official ***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 paper said.

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, which is the 14th to hit China so far this year, will become stronger over the coming days and hours 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.

Almost 250 of these died in a past fortnight of torrential rains across large parts of China, state media reported over the weekend.

Central Hunan Province has had three major floods since June, culminating in a particularly severe one early this month, causing an official death toll of 108.

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 visiting the area.

"Many of the villages are in a very bad condition, quite alarming," said France Hurtubise, a Red Cross spokeswoman who returned to Beijing Monday from Hunan.

"In one of the villages which we visited, all houses along the stream have been washed away," she said.

Tents will be distributed as a necessary measure as winter comes quickly in Hunan and temperatures reach freezing point as early as November, according to the Red Cross.

However, more aid will be needed as many Hunan farmers have seen their harvest -- the only one of the entire year -- ruined by the floods.

"They have lost their crops and will have to rely on international help," said Hurtubise.

In the northern part of Hunan, water levels in Dongting lake, China's second-largest freshwater lake, had already surpassed danger levels as of early Monday, according to the Red Cross.

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.

In Yunnan's Xinping county alone, the toll after rain-induced landslides cut a 50-meter (167-foot) chasm in the side of a mountain has risen to 33 dead and 30 missing.

In eastern Zhejiang Province, 21 were confirmed dead and eight missing after powerful mountain torrents triggered by heavy rain hit dozens of villages, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency.