China is bracing itself for its worst floods in more than a decade as Typhoon Conson closes in on its southern coast. Floods and landslides have killed at least 135 people in China this month and 41 are missing, state media report.
More than 35 million people across China have been hit by the poor weather and 1.2 million have been relocated.
Conson had been downgraded to a tropical storm after it left the Philippines but strengthened into a typhoon again late on Thursday.
Dark and windy The China Meteorological Administration said it was packing winds of 75mph (120km/h).
Conson is expected to make landfall late on Friday in Hainan, an island off south-east China, where 24,000 fishing boats have been recalled.
Light rain was already falling on Hainan, and conditions were dark and windy, an official at the local meteorological bureau told AP news agency.
Parts of Guangdong province and neighbouring Guangxi region are also forecast to see torrential rains over the next 24 hours.
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Torrential rains across a huge area of southern China have already killed around 400 people this year.“Start Quote
End Quote Wang Jingquan Senior flood officialThere will be no room for optimism as the incoming Typhoon Conson will add to the grave situation in flood control”
Central China is facing its worst floods since 1998 as rain continues to batter the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River.
"Although the current situation along the Yangtze River has yet to reach the danger level, it is definitely at a crucial point," the China Daily quoted senior flood official Wang Jingquan as saying.
"If heavy rain hits the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, coupled with the continuous rainfall in the middle and lower reaches, severe flooding similar to that in 1998 will occur," he said.
"There will be no room for optimism as the incoming Typhoon Conson will add to the grave situation in flood control," he added.
More than 4,000 people died in Yangtze floods in 1998, and more than 18 million people were displaced, the newspaper said.
Earlier this week, 37 people died in a series of landslides in Yunnan, Sichuan and Hunan provinces.
In Jiangxi province, 10,000 people were evacuated from villages in the north after rain triggered flashfloods and caused three reservoirs to overflow.
In Anhui province, troops blew up part of a dyke on a swollen branch of the Yangtze to prevent floodwaters flowing into riverside villages.
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