Death toll in Mexico from Hurricane Otis reaches 43
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ACAPULCO, Mexico – The death toll from Hurricane Otis, a Category 5 storm that battered the Mexican Pacific resort city of Acapulco, has risen to 43, said Guerrero Governor Evelyn Salgado in a social media post.
As of Saturday, the Mexican government had reported 39 deaths with 10 people missing.
The new tally of fatalities comprised 33 men and 10 women, Salgado said in a post on the platform X.
She added that electricity had been restored to 58 per cent of Acapulco, and that officials had visited 10,000 families in Acapulco and the nearby city of Coyuca de Benitez for a census to evaluate damages.
"These have been intense days of non-stop work," Salgado said, noting that officials were working to distribute aid.
Hurricane Otis pounded Acapulco with winds of 266kmh on Wednesday, flooding the city, tearing roofs from homes, stores and hotels, submerging vehicles and severing communications, as well as road and air connections.
Looting has continued and residents in hard-hit neighbourhoods, struggling to find food and water, have accused the government of not delivering sufficient aid.
Mr Lopez Obrador on Saturday posted a 24-minute video on social media to update the country on the situation.
He devoted much of it to attacking critics he accused of trying to exploit the situation ahead of the presidential election in 2024.
“They circle like vultures, they don’t care about people’s pain, they want to hurt us, for there to have been lots of deaths,” he said.
Mr Lopez Obrador, 69, said media outlets seeking to smear his government had exaggerated the toll, but that Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodriguez would provide an update on casualties “without lying”.
“Let her tell us… how many people have really lost their lives so far,” he said, adding his administration was doing more than any government had “ever done” to handle the aftermath.
Ms Rodriguez said the victims were believed to have drowned due to the Category 5 storm.
On Saturday afternoon, rescue teams aboard two inflatable red boats searched the Acapulco bay for drowning victims. They returned to shore with three bodies wrapped in black bags.
The government, which previously reported 27 deaths with four others missing, has so far released little information about the dead and injured.
PHOTO: AFP
Investigators briefly unzipped the bags to photograph the victims.
It said more than 220,000 homes and 80 per cent of the hotel sector have been affected, and more than 513,000 people lost power.
In the Renacimiento neighbourhood, residents padded through streets flooded with murky brown water as high as ankle level, and lamented the lack of aid.
“The government hasn’t given us any help, not even hope,” said Mr Apolonio Maldonado, lifting his feet from the water to show deep red cuts on his shins.
“They haven’t left any food, or even mattresses or cots.”
The Plaza Manzanillo yacht club, damaged by Hurricane Otis in Acapulco, Mexico, on Oct 28.
EPA-EFE
Also trudging through a flooded street, Ms Martha Villanueva covered her mouth with her hand as she spoke through sobs: “We want help. We lost everything in the water.”
The cost of devastation left by Otis has been estimated at billions of dollars, and more than 8,000 armed forces members have been deployed to help the stricken port recover.
The Mexican authorities said Otis was the most powerful storm ever to strike the country’s Pacific coast. It caught forecasters by surprise, gathering strength with unexpected speed before it came ashore, and surpassed initial predictions. REUTERS
