Watch the video: Hurricane “Otis” devastates the holiday paradise of Acapulco – “People are desperate”.
The force with which “Otis” devastated the Mexican holiday resort of Acapulco is becoming increasingly clear. The storm hit the Mexican coast on Wednesday night as a hurricane of the highest level five. With sustained wind speeds of almost 270 kilometers per hour, individual gusts even reached more than 300 km/h. According to authorities, at least 27 people were killed and four were still missing on Thursday. “I don’t know how we survived,” says this tourist. A girl who was also vacationing in Acapulco appeared frightened. “The hurricane was very strong and dangerous.” “And what did you do then?” “We hid in the bathroom.” The hurricane also disrupted the supply of electricity and drinking water locally. The Mexican government declared a state of emergency for the Acapulco region and said it was working to restore supplies. The people in the devastated city were still waiting for help on Thursday. “The people here are desperate because there is no gasoline,” says this man. “Some want to leave, others want to work. There is no gas. I hope that people don’t riot, because now things are getting serious.” In fact, there were reports of looting of warehouses and supermarkets in the devastated region. Acapulco is the largest city in the southern state of Guerrero, one of the poorest in Mexico. The tourism-dependent economy is now in trouble as many hotels were badly damaged by the storm. Enki Research, a company that monitors storms and uses models to estimate the cost of their damage, estimates the total is likely to be $15 billion.