At Least 27 Dead in Mexico After Country’s Strongest-Ever Hurricane Comes Ashore
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The storm was the most powerful to ever make landfall on the Central American nation, and broke records with its rapid intensification in the hours before striking the Guerrero coast.
At least 27 people are dead after Hurricane Otis struck Mexico’s Pacific coast on Wednesday, Mexican authorities said on Thursday.
The powerful storm had winds of 165 miles per hour when it made landfall near the resort city of Acapulco, smashing buildings and dumping several inches of rain on the mountainous region, triggering floods and landslides.
“The mountain came down on them. The mud took her from the mother’s arms,” one woman from the Acapulco outskirts told US media of a 3-year-old girl torn from her mother's side. “We need help,” she said, noting the girl had not yet been found.
With nearly all communications and electricity severed in the region and its main airport too damaged to be used, Mexican authorities were working to plough their way through the debris along the roads using an army of bulldozers and electrical workers, who were steadily removing down wires and restoring the power.
According to Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who visited the area on Wednesday after the storm had passed through, every single electrical pole was down and more than 1 million people were without power.
#Acapulco #Otis
— Jonatan Mendoza (@Jonatan93294410) October 25, 2023
Rumbo a barra vieja, el desastre pic.twitter.com/OePXEeMyjH
Just 24 hours before Otis made landfall, it was just a Category 1 storm with winds below 96 miles per hour. As it neared land, it underwent the second-most rapid intensification ever observed in a tropical cyclone, reaching Category 5 strength with winds of 165 miles per hour.
25 October 2023, 21:32 GMT
The intensification caught many by surprise, but Mexican authorities reacted quickly and were able to open even more shelters than they had already planned.
This building in Acapulco has literally been torn apart 😱
— Volcaholic 🌋 (@volcaholic1) October 26, 2023
📹 Martin Maquivar#HurricaneOtis #HurracanOtis #Otis #Acapulco #México pic.twitter.com/J87MWW7ETA
“The people sheltered, protected themselves and that’s why fortunately there weren’t more tragedies, loss of human life,” López Obrador told reporters.
Acapulco residents told local media they expected it to take at least a year for the city to recover. Footage posted online by locals showed the city’s grand coastal boulevard smashed by the powerful storm, with many building facades missing and their contents strewn across the neighborhood. The coastal hotels, which afford guests stunning views of the Pacific Ocean and the nearby mountains alike, were gutted by Otis’ winds.
Before & after: This brand new $130 million luxury high-rise in Acapulco, Mexico has been severely damaged by Hurricane Otis. pic.twitter.com/X2PVzxrTIO
— Nahel Belgherze (@WxNB_) October 26, 2023
Widespread looting of stores has been reported in the wake of the storm, with some taking food while others grabbed phones and more expensive items.
Despite its fury, Hurricane Otis quickly dissipated after making landfall, its storm bands weakened by the high Sierra Madre del Sur mountains that run along the coast. Within hours, Otis had been reduced to a tropical depression.
