Thailand’s “Flood of the Century”

The city of Hat Yai in Thailand’s southern province of Songkhla was hit by a once-in-300-years downpour, with daily rainfall reaching 335 millimeters. The entire city was submerged under 4 meters of floodwaters. The floodwaters surged into the Gulf of Thailand, causing salinity levels in the 5-kilometer coastal zone to plummet from the normal 32‰ to just 2‰. This catastrophic event dealt a devastating blow to the mangrove ecosystems. The seawater turned black and foul-smelling, leading to mass deaths of marine life such as shellfish and white croaker. The crisis even threatened the food sources of whales and dolphins.