Perhaps they were refugees during one of the uprisings during the 1st c AD.
Possible. The Essenes pulled out of Qumran before the Romans invaded in 66. There were some holdouts , ans some who hid scrolls all the way to Masada in numerous caves. Also the place that the author were describing were near the springs. We found Roman artifacts, including catapult stones. The Romans had to pass by Qumran on the way to assault Masada, when they acquired Jewish slaves on the way to build the Catapult Ramp at Masada. Some hid from them, but most of the Scribes fled to the south. We reckoned the family we found were among those who hid in the numerous caves.