The Mexican city of Acapulco was ravaged by looting after the iconic beach resort was hammered this week by Hurricane Otis. This record-breaking storm killed at least 27 people and left thousands of residents struggling to get food and water. The Category 5 storm smashed into Mexico’s southern Pacific coast, flooding the city, tearing roofs from homes, stores, and hotels, submerging vehicles, and severing communications and road and air connections. Its swift intensification caught many off guard, doubling in strength from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in 12 hours.
Some of the worst damage occurred in Acapulco’s luxury tourist zone, where once-sleek beachfront hotels now looked like toothless hulks and were engulfed in muddy floodwaters. The city’s international airport was partially open Thursday, and the government said an air bridge linking the stricken region with Mexico City would begin operating from Friday.
As people waited for buses to take them out of the devastated city, they searched through trash bins and supermarket shelves for supplies, even as authorities pleaded with them not to steal. Evangelina Rodriguez, a mother of two who lives in Houston, says she has been unable to get in touch with her diabetic mother in Acapulco and fears she may not be alive. “I’m worried about her and my children,” she says. “We’re all scared.”
Acapulco mayor Fernando López Velasco urged people to stay home, but many did not heed his call, lining up at gas stations and other businesses searching for food and water. Many slogged through knee-deep mud to reach them. Others waited for news of their loved ones. Magician Erik Lozoya waited for three hours with his wife and two daughters in their hotel room as the wind and rain of Otis hammered the building with such force that it shook as if an earthquake had struck. “The room shook, and the windows cracked,” he said, adding that his family was not told about Otis’ approach until shortly before it arrived.
Throughout Acapulco, large stores were empty, and their shelves had been stripped. Some were emptied of food, while others had been stocked with clothes and other items stacked on the street. In some cases, items were stowed in trunks or on rooftops of cars.
In a video posted on social media, Lopez Obrador appealed to the population for cooperation, adding that the army is working to clear roads and restore power. Many people have been unable to contact family members since the storm struck, with cellphone service still down in parts of Acapulco. The government’s electricity company, CFE, said it has about 1,300 workers laying lines to restore power in the city of 1 million. The telecommunications firm controlled by billionaire Carlos Slim, Telmex, restored some cell phone services in Acapulco on Thursday.
