Acapulco (Mexico) | Portal
Authorities in Mexico updated on Tuesday (31) the number of people killed or missing to one hundred as a result of Hurricane Otis, a Category 5 storm that struck the tourist city of Acapulco, in the state of Guerrero, last week.
With wind speeds of up to 266 km/h, Otis caused flooding, tearing off roofs and damaging facades of hotels and other buildings along the Mexican coast last Wednesday (25). Vehicles were flooded and road and air traffic was disrupted. Nearly a week after the hurricane passed through, problems related to the supply of supplies continue.
Authorities are reporting an increase in looting as the city’s nearly 900,000 residents become increasingly desperate for water and food. In a statement published on Monday (30), Antad (National Association of Supermarkets and Department Stores, its Spanish acronym) called on the government to make more efforts to curb thefts in stores, which have already been affected by the disappearances of customers in recent days .
A queue of around 150 people waiting for water provided by local authorities snaked through the muddy streets of the La Frontera district on Sunday afternoon (29), while residents with empty containers lamented the hourslong wait. “The water will not be enough,” Emilia Rojas, who was at the scene, told Portal.
On a nearby street, Perla Rubi said the wait was harrowing and people were desperate. “We have been here since dawn, since five in the morning, and we are in danger of being robbed because they are now attacking people on the streets,” she said. “Where is the government help?”
The government of Guerrero, the state where Acapulco is located, said in a statement that as of Tuesday morning, 46 people had died from the hurricane and another 54 were missing. Around 17,000 members of the armed forces were mobilized for search operations, order and distribution of tons of relief supplies in Acapulco.
In addition to human losses, the tragedy also caused economic losses. Estimates suggest that damage caused by the hurricane could reach $15 billion (R$75.8 billion). ATMs were destroyed and the government announced it would install two new ATMs in the city so people could withdraw cash.
The phenomenon occurred in Acapulco just seven months before the Mexican presidential election. Acting President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said again that the opposition was criticizing the government’s response to the hurricane for electoral reasons. The leader said he was keeping in touch with local authorities and promised to deliver basic food items to the people of Acapulco.
According to the Guerrero government, the dead included an American citizen, a British citizen and a Canadian. The three lived in Acapulco.
Rumualda Hernandez, 62, who lives in the Renacimiento neighborhood a few kilometers from the coast, asked the government for help after walking 10 blocks from her destroyed home to collect water from a cistern.
“I was shaking with fear,” she said, remembering the floodwaters rising above her head. “I thought I was going to die.”
Fishermen and workers on tourist yachts gathered at Playa Honda in Acapulco on Sunday afternoon to search for missing colleagues and friends. They expressed concern that authorities were not doing enough to search.
Fisherman Luis Alberto Medina said he was looking for six people who worked at the port. “It was really terrible,” he said. “We’ve already found other people’s bodies.”