BEIJING - South China's Hainan Island was readying Wednesday for the arrival of a tropical storm that already lashed the northern Philippines, leaving five people dead.

Tropical Storm Prapiroon, the region's eighth major storm of the season, was gathering strength as it churned northwest from the Philippines toward Hainan, where it was expected to make landfall Wednesday, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Prapiroon was packing winds of 90 kilometers (55 miles) per hour the storm was moving about 15 kph (10 mph) across the South China Sea, Xinhua said, citing the Hainan Meteorological Bureau.

The bureau warned that the island would be battered by strong winds and heavy rains from Thursday to Saturday, the report said.

Prapiroon, the Thai word for rain god, comes in the wake of last week's Typhoon Kaemi, which killed at least 35 people in China and left dozens missing.