Flood-ravaged southern and eastern China braced Tuesday for more torrential rains and wind, as a tropical storm menaced the country's southern coast and approached making a landfall.

The state weather bureau said the storm, with wind gusts of 30 knots, was approaching the coast of Guangdong and Fujian provinces near Hong Kong and would inundate the already saturated coastal territories for the next several days. China's official Xinhua news agency said Jiangxi province was battling its worst flooding on record and that 40,000 people have been evacuated from high water in recent days.

Authorities say at least 175 people have died from flooding this month in southern and eastern provinces, with nearly 100 others missing. Official economic losses have been place at $5 billion.

Xinhua reported Tuesday that more than 650 reservoirs in nearby Anhui province were at risk of overflowing. Authorities said most of the reservoirs were small.

The flooding, which began early this month, ended a nine-month drought said to be the worst in the region in more than 50 years.