
The death toll from the record-breaking hurricane that devastated the famous beach resort continued to increase on Sunday, prompting the Mexican government to step up efforts to rebuild the devastated coastal city of Acapulco.
With gusts of 165 mph (266 kph), Hurricane Otis tore through Acapulco on Wednesday as a Category 5 storm, destroying homes, hotels, and businesses. The storm also brought down electricity lines and communications, cutting off communication for the city’s approximately 900,000 residents.
After Otis’ devastation, which the authorities reported on Sunday resulted in 48 deaths and six missing, food, water, and gasoline became limited, leading to looting.
Acapulco is located in the southern state of Guerrero, whose governor had declared that 36 persons were missing.
The death toll was 39 killed and 10 missing one day earlier.
As thousands of troops and police converged on the city, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced that the majority of his cabinet was either in or on their way to Acapulco and that he would be returning later on Sunday to oversee recovery work.
“We intend to restore Acapulco, beginning with its citizens,” he declared in a social media video.
On Sunday, the bay was littered with several parts of damaged boats, including dinghies and yachts that were heaped up on the shore.
When he noticed the cyclone gaining strength, Captain Alejandro Cortez, 66, abandoned his vessel.
He narrated, “We ran, we jumped down, and then we left the ship all alone,” as he stood on a dock and looked out at the water, recalling waves that were seven meters high.
I’m sitting here right now for that reason. “That decision was given to me by God,” he continued, gesturing aloft. According to him, some coworkers have surfaced alive, but there are still people being looked for.
“A large number of people are still missing,” he stated.
Estimates of the damage run as high as $15 billion, and Lopez Obrador announced that the finance and economy ministers would be in Acapulco on Monday. He extended an invitation to the governor of the Mexican central bank to visit.
Flood-affected residents have bemoaned the lack of assistance from the authorities. Many are having difficulty obtaining food and water.
Blanca Estela Morales, a 52-year-old wheelchair user residing in a government-run shelter after her home flooded, stated, “I was cleaned out, left with nothing.” “We don’t have enough water to wash with, and we sleep on the floor, so this is really difficult for me.”
Political repercussions
López Obrador charged this past weekend that his detractors were undermining his reaction to Otis and exaggerating the disaster’s impact in order to gain political advantage. The disaster rocked Acapulco just seven months before Mexico‘s next presidential election.
Even as families frantically looked for missing relatives and more drowning fatalities were recovered from Acapulco’s bay, Lopez Obrador’s venomous political barbs sparked allegations that he was downplaying the severity of the crisis.
Lopez Obrador’s longtime rival, former president Felipe Calderón, charged that his administration was attempting to take advantage of the crisis by “rebranding” boxes of private humanitarian contributions to Acapulco as “government” offerings.
Reuters was unable to confirm the markings on boxes containing these donations right away. Calderón was “lying,” according to presidential spokesman Jesus Ramirez, who also charged that some politicians and media organizations were attempting to profit from the catastrophe.
In order to maintain law and order and assist with the distribution of tons of food and supplies in Acapulco, the largest city in Guerrero, Mexico has dispatched some 17,000 military personnel.
The government reported in an update on Sunday that Otis destroyed 273,844 dwellings in Guerrero, more than the 223,924 homes registered in Acapulco in 2020, along with 600 hotels and condominiums. Cleanup activities are expected to take some time.
The ministry added that one town is still blocked off because of a river that is overflowing.
Evelyn Salgado, the governor of Guerrero, reported that officials had visited 10,000 people in the area to assess the damage and that 58% of Acapulco now has electricity.
By Tuesday, López Obrador said that the city’s energy will be fully restored.
After López Obrador questioned him about the state of attempts to deter looting, Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval announced that 5,000 members of the National Guard would be deployed to security and that the armed forces were seizing charge of petrol stations.
Sandoval stated, “Taking the gas stations was extremely important.” “Because a tragedy even worse could occur.”