…I was struck by a live-news-report from the scene that talked about how the rains had returned and the water levels were rising but the reporter was bone-dry and it looked like a beautiful sunny day, so this helps reconcile things inside my brain.
Elon Musk has arrived with his mini sub/capsule thingy. He intends to leave it in Thailand in case they can use it in future.
Tuesday the rescuers shaved two hours off the time it took to extract 4boys the first day. They are hoping to do the same today. I believe they are just getting underway.
It’s not like frontal systems in the temperate zone, where a front will come in and you’ll have steady rain for a few days straight. Instead they are convective storms, like a summer thunderstorm. Even at the height of the rainy season it may rain for just a few hours a day. The morning may be sunny, then there is a torrential downpour in the afternoon.
Does Thailand, or at least this region, have year-round school? Theirs is in session, and I saw something on TV earlier today where one of their teachers told the class that when the boys came back to school, they should not ask them about this experience because they may not want to talk about it.
School in Thailand begins in May and continues until mid-semester in October. The kids get a three week break, then school continues until February of the next year.
I don’t want to belittle what’s involved for the kids but most of the work was done for them. None of it involved much water depth so there were no pressure issues. The cave was already mapped out and professional divers set up pumps, guide ropes, lights, and spare tanks. The plan had contingencies for any part that failed. All this was planned and initiated in days.
Yes this is 20/20 hindsight commentary but given the assets available I’m not surprised at how this is playing out. What surprises me is the death of a professional diver. There has to be more to the story than what we’ve heard.
Most likely, the remaining boys will all be taken out first in two batches, but then, behind them, the military personnel and doctors who’ve been keeping them company will then make their way out, the last ones, kind of like how rescue personnel were the last ones to ascend the Chilean mine after the last miners had first ascended.
I’ve seen torrential rain pouring down on one side of a street while standing in sunlight on the other, it can get weird in the tropics.
Talking about the weather, some people have said that they should have checked the weather before going in, but two things, one it’s quite possible for rain to fall hard on one side of the mountain while the entrance remained clear and the group none the wiser, then the water would find its way into the caves, secondly a few days a sudden storm sank a few boats on the Andaman Sea side of Thailand, over 40 people died IIRC there was no warning that such a storm would hit.
Some times things just go wrong and pointing fingers is not just, well, pointless, but also unjust.
