Over the past two days, hail and thunderstorms hit several regions in eastern and southern China. The unusual heavy rain has sparked concerns that this year's flood season might start earlier than expected.

An article in China Daily cites an official as saying that the heavy rainfall could lead to geological disasters, such as mudflows and landslides. Yuan Xiaosu, vice minister of land resources, has called for local departments to send work teams to areas where heavy rains have been forecast to identify potential dangers and set up facilities to deal with emergencies.

As the Beijing Olympic Games will be held during the flood season, the newspaper advises officials in Olympic host cities to be especially alert for possible dangers around highways, tourist spots, schools and large construction sites.

In view of the snow disaster, which happened at the beginning of this year, the article says officials should always be prepared for possible natural disasters and take immediate measures once disasters occur.

Over the past year, more than 250 hi tech GPS monitoring stations and up to 2,000 observation spots manned by villagers have been set up along the Yangze River, one of the most frequent flood-hit regions.