Hurricane Otis leaves at least 27 dead in Mexico

MEXICO CITY (CN) — Hurricane Otis left at least 27 people dead after it rapidly intensified to a Category 5 storm and slammed into the Mexican coastal resort city of Acapulco late Tuesday night. 

Mexico’s civil protection authority declared a state of emergency in Guerrero on Thursday. Videos and images from the area showed widespread property destruction and flooding. One video showed residents searching for food among piles of garbage.

In addition to the casualties, local and state authorities had reported that four people are missing. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said those missing were marines, and that one of them had died, during his daily morning press conference in Mexico City.

“A commander from the Acapulco military base told us that, to be frank, a wall fell on the soldier,” he said. 

Just under one million people live in the Acapulco metropolitan area. Over 300,000 remain without power, according to Public Security Secretary Rosa Icela Rodríguez. Mexico’s Federal Electricity Commission was working to get them reconnected. 

Several area hospitals and the Acapulco airport also suffered serious damages, Rodríguez said. As many as 200 patients had to be transferred from one government hospital and flights in and out of the airport are suspended until further notice.

As part of its military disaster relief plan, the army deployed almost 10,000 soldiers and rescue personnel to the region, as well as heavy machinery, a generator and other equipment. 

Multiple sources who spoke to Courthouse News said the government is not prepared to adequately respond to the disaster. 

It lacks the personnel, resources and funds necessary for recovery, according to security and political analyst David Saucedo. 

“Since the army is spread out doing other tasks, the personnel available for the disaster response has been reduced,” he said. 

Many service members had been moved away from disaster-prone areas like the coast in order to deal with security tasks or other operations, Saucedo said. “Because they’ve commissioned soldiers to contain migrants or combat cartels, the disaster response mechanism is not functioning as it should in order to deal with the situation in Acapulco.”

Under López Obrador, Mexico’s armed forces have taken on a wide range of new duties, including building and operating airports, administering customs and running airlines, hotels and other tourism services.

The military’s disaster response mechanism has also suffered budget cuts. And as soon as news of the hurricane’s destruction began to circulate online, López Obrador was criticized for the elimination of a disaster relief trust fund in 2021.

While federal auditors documented corruption in the fund’s administration, Saucedo called López Obrador’s elimination of it an exaggerated response. 

“It was like amputating a leg when he just needed to treat the wound,” he said. 

López Obrador and members of his cabinet visited Acapulco by land yesterday. They were forced to walk part of the way due to road closures from landslides and other effects of Otis’ destruction. 

The government’s weakened ability to respond to the disaster makes the work of civil society all the more important to Acapulco’s recovery, according to Eddie Mendoza, director of Mexico operations at Direct Relief. 

“It’s more relevant now than ever, because the problem is that they’re not really allowing civil society to take its place, to do what is needed, sort of filling in the gaps,” he said in a phone interview. 

Direct Relief has prepared dozens of emergency medical backpacks and provided $25,000 for the rapid deployment of medical teams during emergency events. They haven’t been able to get the personnel and resources into Acapulco yet, as roads are still blocked by landslides and other effects of the storm. 

“I don’t think aid will actually start flowing in till Monday or Tuesday,” Mendoza said. 

Other international organizations have begun coordinating to channel donations and prepare for the long road to recovery. 

The United Way has teamed up with FedEx, the American Society, Corazón Latino and soccer holding company Orlegi Sports to solicit and administer individual and corporate donations to help with the efforts. 

“Once we have better intelligence of what’s immediately needed, we can start mobilizing, but at this point, we’re just sharing information, working together in a binational way and opening doors for corporate and individual donors to start contributing,” said Felipe Benitez of Corazón Latino. 

Follow @copycopeland

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Email *

Submit