Hurricane Otis leaves 27 dead, missing, chaos and desolation in the Mexican port city of Acapulco

At least 27 dead, four missing, hotels and businesses partially destroyed and communities without electricity and communications are the toll left by the passage of Hurricane Otis through the Mexican port of Acapulco, where a crowd has started looting supermarkets in search of water and food .

This is the first report of casualties as the affected area has been virtually cut off since the early hours of Wednesday, when the meteor struck the Mexican Pacific Ocean as Hurricane 5, the highest category on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

“The report has been received from the state and municipal authorities about 27 deceased people and four missing people,” Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez said during the presidential press conference on Thursday.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the deceased are “mainly in Acapulco” and that three of the missing are soldiers.

“Those who died were due to the effects of the hurricane,” he said, detailing that the winds collapsed trees and poles and damaged houses, in addition to leaving almost half of the port still without electricity.

They were not prepared

López Obrador acknowledged that the impact of Otis, the most powerful hurricane to hit Acapulco, was surprising.

“It has no precedent in the country recently (…). What Acapulco suffered was very disastrous (…) the people protected themselves, so fortunately there were no more setbacks,” he said.

In about six hours, and against all meteorological forecasts, the phenomenon turned from a tropical storm into a catastrophic category 5 hurricane, forcing authorities to accelerate preventive measures in Guerrero, which was hit by Paulina in 1997 with a death toll of more than 200. dead.

Due to its extensive coastlines on the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, Mexico is one of the most vulnerable countries to the effects of hurricanes.

Two other hurricanes hit Mexico’s Pacific Ocean in October: Norma, killing three in Sinaloa (northwest), and Lidia, killing two in Jalisco and Nayarit (west).

Streets full of mud

Ludwing Reynoso, minister of the government of Guerrero (southern) state, explained that most of the dead were swept away by some of the riverbeds that cross this city of almost 780,000 inhabitants.

The streets of the port, which largely lives from tourism, have been busy since Thursday afternoon with people looking in amazement at the damage.

A crowd stormed into supermarkets, broke open the doors and started taking whatever they had on hand without store staff and authorities stopping them, AFP found.

“We are going to survive as we can,” justified Emilio García, a 65-year-old retiree, in response to the looting of shops.

“The desperation that initially occurs is understandable, but cannot be systematic,” Reynoso said, explaining that they are preparing a security operation to prevent these acts.

Although telephone connections have started to return, they are unstable and large sectors are still cut off. The Highway del Sol, the fastest route from Mexico City, has reopened to traffic.

In Acapulco there are also impoverished communities living on hills, in houses made of fragile materials. Reynoso reported that mainly material damage was registered there.

One of the port’s main streets woke up covered in mud as dozens of people, many with suitcases in hand, walked around without public transport and taxis.

Groups have been created in messaging applications on mobile phones for those who want to hear from their loved ones to join, although many were already saturated, AFP found.

Local television stations allow people to get in front of the camera to send messages or broadcast the content of “chat” groups in which users upload images and data of the family members they are looking for.

During the morning, members of the army cleared mud and debris from the coastal avenues, while the streets entering and leaving the port recorded heavy traffic in the afternoon with areas blocked off.

Punta Diamante, the most luxurious and modern part of the port and where hotels and apartment buildings are being built, is one of the worst affected areas, with walls of several floors demolished.

The tourist occupancy of Acapulco, with some 20,000 hotel rooms, was 50%, according to authorities.

The state government reported that 80% of hotels have suffered damage and they have arranged around 40 buses to provide free transportation.

The airport remains closed, but efforts are underway to allow the airstrip to build an air bridge and provide relief. Airlines have offered to transport tourists from Zihuatanejo, which is 225 kilometers away. (JO)