Hurricane Otis hit the shores of Acapulco early Wednesday. According to the National Meteorological Service, Otis made landfall at 3:00 a.m. Central Mexico time as a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. At 07:00 a.m., the storm was downgraded to Category 2 50 kilometers south-southeast of San Miguel Totolapan and 100 kilometers north-northwest of Acapulco. This is the fourth phenomenon to make landfall in western Mexico in October, the most intense month of the Pacific hurricane season.
López Obrador has called on the population to be vigilant in the face of the onslaught of this hurricane. “The DNIII-E plan and the marine plan are underway in coordination with the state government. Agree to move to shelters, stay in safe places: away from rivers, streams and ravines and be vigilant without trusting yourself. We are waiting too,” he published on his social networks this Tuesday evening.
Attention to the entire population of the Costa Grande of Guerrero:
According to available information, Hurricane Otis is expected to enter the Category 5 area between Acapulco and Tecpan de Galeana between 4 and 6 a.m.
The plan is underway… pic.twitter.com/PrTRWHwrfl
— Andrés Manuel (@lopezobrador_) October 25, 2023
The main consequences caused by the clouds around the eye of the hurricane this Tuesday are torrential rains in Guerrero, heavy in Oaxaca and heavy in the State of Mexico, Morelos and Puebla. At these three precipitation intensity levels, there may be “deterioration in visibility, landslides, flooding or flooding, and an increase in river and stream levels,” according to SMN. The coast of Oaxaca and Guerrero can experience wind speeds of up to 100 kilometers per hour and waves of 3 to 5 meters, which is why the meteorological body has decreed a “hurricane prevention zone” between the Guerrero communities of Punta Maldonado and Punta Zihuatanejo.
Otis arrives in an October with strong winds and heavy rain, and the Pacific hurricane season is about to end (May to late November). Last Saturday, Norma hit the coast of Baja California as a Category 2 hurricane. Just 11 days earlier, Lidia hit Jalisco at level 4 – the strongest Mexico has reached in 2023 – leaving two dead and more than 5,000 homes between that area and Nayarit. The day before this violent storm, rains from Tropical Storm Max caused two deaths and affected over 90 homes in the state of Guerrero.
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