Image: FRANCISCO ROBLES (AFP)
The Secretary of Security, Rosa Icela Rodríguez, said this on Thursday at a presidential press conference. “Otis” made landfall on Mexico’s Pacific coast as an extremely dangerous category five hurricane with wind speeds of up to 270 kilometers per hour.
Hurricane “Otis” caused extensive damage on the Mexican west coast around the world-famous seaside resort of Acapulco. Facades of hotels were torn down, windows were broken, trees fell and streets were flooded, the newspaper “Milenio” reported on Thursday. The highway between Acapulco and the capital Mexico City, around 480 kilometers away, was closed after landslides. The airport in the tourist resort ceased operations. According to media reports, over 100,000 vacationers were initially stranded.
Category 5 hurricane
“Otis” hit the coast on Wednesday night as an extremely dangerous hurricane of the highest level 5 with sustained wind speeds of almost 270 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 330 kilometers per hour. It then lost strength over land and finally dissipated.
What was unusual was that “Otis” had developed from a tropical storm into an extremely dangerous hurricane in just about twelve hours. According to experts, the rapid intensification of hurricanes is due to climate change. Because ocean surface temperatures are rising, hurricanes are not only able to absorb more water vapor, but are also able to do so at an increasingly rapid rate.
Initially there was little information about the extent of the damage because the internet and telephone networks had collapsed. According to the state provider CFE, 500,000 households were temporarily without power. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador traveled to Acapulco with several ministers to assess the situation.
Acapulco is known for its cliff divers and luxury hotels. The international jet set once stayed there. However, due to the high level of violent crime, fewer and fewer tourists have recently come from abroad. Today, residents of Mexico City in particular spend their long weekends in the seaside resort.
Photos in the media showed, among other things, devastated stretches of coastline in the city. The lobby of a hotel was littered with debris, and even a small car was washed inside the hotel. The facade of the Galerías Diana shopping center was completely demolished on one side.
Landslides and uprooted trees blocked roads and highways. In the village of Sabanillas, according to a report by “Milenio”, the houses and fields of dozens of families were destroyed. The local government set up emergency shelters, Guerrero Governor Evelyn Salgado Pineda announced. According to the Ministry of Defense, around 8,400 soldiers have been deployed to the region to help with recovery and clean-up work.
“Otis” also damaged the earthquake early warning system on Mexico’s Pacific coast. The operator announced on Wednesday that communication with at least 27 of the approximately 100 sensors in the seismic observation network was interrupted. If a strong earthquake occurs near the damaged sensors, the population cannot be warned in time.
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