At least 45 people have died after the hurricane ripped through southern Mexico’s Guerrero state as a devastating Category 5 storm last week. Dozens remain missing in the city of 900,000.
The damage to physical infrastructure is shocking. The hurricane damaged or destroyed over 200,000 homes, and 80% of the area’s hotels were damaged, according to the preliminary damage assessment by the Mexican government.
Travelling over warm waters, the storm intensified at record speed, going from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in 12 hours. It roared ashore with sustained winds of 165 mph/265 kph ashore near Acapulco.
Last week, Sunwing Vacations Group President Andrew Dawson told TravelPulse Canada that while information was slow to come in, but added: “In my experience with Category 4-5 hurricanes, we should expect impacts of catastrophic proportions in ACA."
The cliff divers of Acapulco have been a tourist attraction for decades. (Photo Credit: Photo via: Sectur)
Dawson added: "It has been difficult to gather information concerning Acapulco as the storm has caused severe damage to infrastructure, so communication by phone, email or WhatsApp has been very challenging to say the least. We have been able to communicate with our partner in ACA who indicates that they are all fine, but Acapulco was severely slammed by Otis with structural damage and severe impact on the city's infrastructure.”
CNN reports that the devastation from Otis left many structures, including some high-rise buildings, in shambles with exposed cinder blocks, scattered pieces of wood and missing rooftops. Storm surge and rain inundated roads with several feet of murky floodwaters.
According to Reuters, the government has so far not estimated the cost of Otis, but Enki Research, which tracks tropical storms and models the cost of their damage, saw it "likely approaching US$15 billion."
Acapulco is the biggest city in Guerrero, one of Mexico’s poorest states. The local economy depends heavily on tourism, and Otis caused major damage to some of the most famous hotels on the city's shoreline.
The storm that grew more quickly than any previous Pacific hurricane spent just a couple of hours terrorizing Acapulco. The rebuilding of the destination is certain to take years
Tags: Hurricane Otis, Mexican resort, Acapulco
