[ad_1]
Members of this tight-knit Mae Sai community in northern Thailand know that the return of the seasonal monsoon rains will make any attempt to rescue boys who have run aground in the tunnel network 14 days into the future .
The Thai authorities know this too
The monsoon season generally lasts from July to October. During this period, the waters of Mae Sai, located along Thailand's mountainous border with Myanmar, can rapidly increase, flooding farmland and cutting entire villages.
The Tham Luang Nang Caves the natural drainage basin of the city during this period of heavy rains.
The boys and their 25-year-old coach are currently grouped together in a small room four kilometers (2.5 miles) inside the network of caves, with a limited supply of
To reach them, divers Experts must carefully cross the jagged pbadages, sometimes narrowing to the width of a person, forcing divers to remove their breathing tanks from their backs and to enter like a pencil, taking care not to hang on their combination. . The tunnels are black. The water is muddy and cold. The trip can last up to six hours.
For almost two weeks, the authorities have been pumping water from the caves 24 hours a day. This is the volume of water extracted Whole fields nearby have been turned into lakes.
The shores of the road leading to the entrance to the cave are now a course of fresh water that exhausted rescuers use every morning to bathe. During the week, efforts to lower water levels had generated an air of optimism. During a press conference on Thursday, a Thai official suggested that children could even "go out".
Such hopes have now disappeared, replaced instead of a growing sense of urgency. The people of the big makeshift camp that now surrounds the caves equate the atmosphere with that of a hostage situation.
Dark clouds drift dangerously overhead. Meteorologists predict heavy rains Saturday night and all week
The room in which boys are found is no longer considered safe. Even if they are given enough food to wait for the rainy season, there is no guarantee that the rim on which they are sitting will not be submerged.
There are no easy decisions. But with the floods expected to increase in the coming days, a decision will have to be made soon.
"The teams will have a tipping point where they will have to make this call to get them out," said a British mining engineer and an experienced diver, who did not wish to be named because of the sensitivity
"The tipping point will be related to the amount of rain that begins to fall, the water levels in the interior, compared to what boys do.They will watch the flow , the rain recorded in recent weeks, months to have a rough indicator of where they are, they will have a delay in mind, and then they will go for the outcome the more unpopular, "he added.
Every day camp rescuers talk about different strategies. Drill holes, enlarge tunnels, pump water.
Earlier this week, the authorities announced that boys, the youngest of whom is only 11 years old, would take an accelerated diving course in the hope of being able to
Despite the risks involved, friends and family had been encouraged by the idea that dive teams from around the world had arrived on site to lend their expertise.
On Thursday, clbadmates of the boys at Prasitsart School, they had excitedly talked about their friends who were bravely swimming safely with the help of foreign divers.
They badured us "no problem," their friends were more than capable, and they had the best divers
On Friday, this option seemed to fade with the news that a former member of Thai Navy SEAL, a volunteer in the rescue effort, had died while swimming through the cave pbadages.
No one in Mae Sai is willing to think the worst, let alone say it out loud. But the mood of the community begins to change, as the reality of the situation settles.
In a school attended by one of the missing children, a teacher asked how boys could accomplish a trip too difficult even for an old Thai marine SEAL
News that some of the boys, especially the more young people, suffer from malnutrition, added to these fears.
In the city 's main market, where televisions are constantly keeping up with the news, people were nervously discussing the need to find other options. Surely, they can drill an opening in the roof of the cave, they asked.
A popular Whatsapp discussion group with some of the city's oldest kids said that a famous American engineer named Elon Musk was sending help. Maybe that would prove the difference.
But it is the children's families who most keenly feel these issues
At Anubanmaesai Primary School, where the youngest of 12 missing boys, Chanin Wiboonrongraing, aged 11, is in his last year, The director of the school spoke of his concern for the boy's parents.
"I'm afraid parents will start thinking that the same thing will happen to their son," said Radap Tate, of Navy SEAL's death on Friday. 19659007] Chanin Wiboonrongraing, aged 11, is in the last year of Anubanmaesai primary school in Mae Sai. "data-src-mini =" // cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/badets/180707161145-01-chanin-wiboonrongraing-thai-boy-small-169.jpg "data-src-xsmall =" // cdn .cnn.com / cnnnext / dam / badets / 180707161145-01-chanin-wiboonrongraing-thai-boy-medium-plus-169.jpg "data-src-small =" http://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/ dam / badets / 180707161145-01-chanin-wiboonrongraing-thai-boy-large-169.jpg "data-src-medium =" // cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/badets/180707161145-01-chanin-wiboonrongraing -thai-boy-exlarge-169.jpg "data-src-large =" // cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/badets/180707161145-01-chanin-wiboonrongraing-thai-boy-super-169.jpg " data-src-full16x9 = "// cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/badets/180707161145-01-chanin-wiboonrongraing-thai-boy-full-169.jpg" data-src-mini1x1 = "// cdn. cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/badets/180707161145-01-chanin-wiboonrongraing-thai-boy-small-11.jpg "data-demand-load =" not-loaded "data-eq-pts =" mini: 0, xsmall: 221, small: 308, medium: 461, large: 781 "src =" data: image / gif; base64, R0lGODlhEAAJAJEAAAAAAP /////// wAAACH5BAEAAAIALAAAAAAQAAkAAAIKlI + py + 0Po5yUFQA7 "/> 
