Hurricane Otis: significant damage in Acapulco, the death toll increased from 27 to 39

2023-10-29 05:41:43

Devastated by the Otis phenomenon, the seaside resort becomes a little more bereaved. The human toll from the hurricane which devastated Acapulco in southwest Mexico on Wednesday was revised upwards on Saturday, from 27 to 39 deaths, the government said. Ten people, compared to four in the previous report, are also missing, said the Secretary (Minister) of Security, Rosa Icela Rodríguez, in a video. The 39 victims – 29 men and 10 women – have not yet been identified, according to this source.

Three days after the passage of Hurricane Otis at maximum force 5, aid began to slowly arrive at the famous seaside resort, still partly deprived of electricity, telephone network and fuel. Some 10,000 security forces were deployed after the supermarkets were looted, authorities said.

The army and navy “set up an airlift” to “accelerate the distribution of humanitarian aid,” the government said in a statement on Saturday. Thousands of liters of drinking water and food aid have been distributed to the inhabitants of Acapulco, who number some 790,000 in total. The Army and Navy also use the airlift “from Acapulco to Mexico City for patients who need specialized medical assistance.”

A new “tropical depression” is forming in the Pacific south of Mexico off Chiapas and Guatemala, the National Water Commission (Conagua) said. Atmospheric conditions are favorable for the “development of a tropical depression” towards the beginning of next week, said the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami, responsible for forecasts and warnings for the area.

Heat of the waters and favorable atmosphere

Hurricane Otis, which devastated Acapulco with winds of 270 km/h and violent rains, formed very quickly in a few hours in the Pacific off the coast of Mexico, to the great surprise of observers. “Unfortunately, Otis was able to take advantage of very favorable conditions, such as the warmth of the deep waters in the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of Mexico, and a favorable atmospheric environment,” explained NHC Director Michael Brennan.

In 1997, Hurricane Paulina, category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson scale of 5, also affected the Acapulco region in the state of Guerrero, with a death toll of more than 200 people.