The flaws in the urbanization of the Mexican city of Acapulco highlighted by the devastating Hurricane Otis

2023-10-31 19:29:16
Damage caused by the passage of Hurricane Otis in Puerto Marques, a town near Acapulco, Mexico, October 28, 2023. RODRIGO OROPEZA/AFP

In the Mexican city of Acapulco, a week after the passage, during the night of October 24 to 25, of Hurricane Otis, force 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, the extent of the damage is becoming clearer, while that the human toll rose to forty-six dead and fifty-eight missing. The images of ransacked hotels, which circulated shortly after the disaster, did not actually show the most serious urban destruction. These buildings on the edges of the beaches of the Pacific Ocean, which received the most violent gusts of wind, have seen their interior architecture destroyed, but their concrete structure is still standing. On the other hand, in the outlying neighborhoods, where homes were built of sheet metal, wood or bricks, there is often nothing habitable left.

Also read the report: Article reserved for our subscribers In the Mexican city of Acapulco, the devastation after the passage of Hurricane Otis

This is confirmed by a satellite map from the European Union space program (Copernicus), published on Sunday October 29, representing the most devastated areas in red. If we overlay it with the map of Acapulco from government social services, the poorest neighborhoods are the areas most destroyed by Hurricane Otis.

Furthermore, poor urban planning in coastal areas also failed to prevent the disaster. According to this specialist, the tourism sector has had all the facilities to build on the beachfront, with few constraints. “If we compare with Rio de Janeiro [au Brésil] for example, there is an average distance of 210 meters between the sea and the first construction to absorb the possible rise in sea levelspecifies urban planner Federico Taboada. In Acapulco, there are only 13 meters. »

According to an initial assessment, 580,000 people have lost their homes, 7,000 hectares of buildings have been destroyed or damaged and more than 900 kilometers of roads and streets are flooded or damaged. The Mexican Insurance Association estimated the damage at $15 billion (14.2 billion euros), ranking Hurricane Otis in the ten most expensive disasters in the country’s history, but insurance companies are ultimately fine can act in this matter: only 7% of property (16,000 buildings and 20,000 cars) were insured. It is therefore the State which will have to bear the majority of the costs linked to the disaster.

“Prioritize the most disadvantaged areas”

The challenge facing the Mexican authorities is immense: putting a city of nearly 1 million inhabitants back on its feet and trying to correct its urban planning errors. “For once we should prioritize the most disadvantaged areas”, again pleads Federico Taboada. For the moment, the President of the Republic, Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador, known as “AMLO”, of the center left, has not mentioned such a project, even if he authorized tax reductions on Monday, October 30 to facilitate reconstruction. .

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