Hurricane Otis latest: Fears grow for missing as 27 dead in Acapulco

Hurricane Otis’s surprise rapid intensification from a Category 1 to a Category 5 hurricane in less than 12 hours caught not only researchers off-guard, but also the tourists visiting Acapulco earlier this week.

In the wake of the monster storm — which killed 27 people and left four others missing — the Mexican government has had its hands full managing clean-up efforts and the evacuation of tourists left in the blown-out hulls of hotels in the city.

Guerrero Governor Evelyn Salgado said her office is “supporting tourists” with “30 to 40 trucks that are outside hotels to evacuate (visitors) to other areas free of charge,” according to CNN.

Approximately 80 per cent of the city’s hotels were damaged by the storm, according to Ms Salgado.

The “insurable” loss from Hurricane Otis could total up to $15 billion, according to risk analytics and modelling firm CoreLogic.

The firm estimated that losses could be between $10 and $15 billion after 165mph winds destroyed many buildings in Acapulco.

The estimate does not include business interruptions or costs associated with additional living expenses.

Approximately 80 per cent of the city’s hotels were damaged by the storm, according to Guerrero Governor Evelyn Salgado Pineda.

Fears are growing for the four people missing in Acapulco after a “nightmare” Category-5 hurricane ripped through the city.

At least 27 people are dead and four people are missing after Hurricane Otis brought 165mph winds and torrential rainfall to Acapulco on Wednesday.

Flora Contreras Santos, a housewife who lives on the outskirts of the city, told of her fear after her three-year-old neighbor was swept away from her mother in a mudslide.

“The mountain came down on them. The mud took her from the mother’s arms,” she told the Associated Press. “We need help, the mother is in bad shape and we can’t find the girl.”

Meanwhile, Guerrero Governor Evelyn Salgado Pineda announced the establishment of a WhatsApp line to help people contact their families after communications went down in Acapulco on Wednesday.

“Countrymen and women, we know that, as a result of the damage to the satellite network, contact with our families is limited and in some cases has not been possible. Therefore, at this time I make the following contacts available to you exclusively to send messages via WhatsApp, in order to facilitate the immediate search for your families,” she said in a post on X.

In the wake of Hurricane Otis, scientists were trying to piece together how everyone had been caught so off-guard, even as forecasting models have gotten better in the past few years.

“The models completely blew it,” MIT atmospheric sciences professor Kerry Emanuel, a hurricane expert, told The AP.

A rapid analysis, from an international team of scientists at the ClimaMeter group, reported on Thursday that the climate crisis contributed to make the rainfall in Hurricane Otis more intense.

The rapid and unexpected intensification of Otis left the scientific community in “awe”, said Stavros Dafis, a research and development specialist at the Data4Risk company in France and a research associate at the National Observatory of Athens.

Record-breaking ocean temperatures are fuelling stronger and more destructive cyclones in general. This heat is being caused by a fossil-fuel-driven climate crisis with El Nino, a cyclical weather pattern, layered on top.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador travelled to Acapulco on Thursday, where at least 27 people died in a category 5 hurricane.

Mr López Obrador’s car became stuck in the mud as he tried to get over the highway.

He had to get out of the car to walk after debris from a mudslide blocked the way.

“The army is bringing machinery and we’re going to try to reopen [the highway] as soon as possible,” he said.

It came after Acapulco residents expressed their dissatisfaction at the speed of rescue efforts.

Residents have also described looting taking place at local shops after families lost their homes and important documents in the hurricane.

“When is the government ever going to look after the common people?” one resident said.

Powerful winds and heavy rainfall have ravaged the city after Hurricane Otis made landfall in Acapulco just after midnight in the city, causing flooding and landslides.

Tens of thousands were also left without power after the hurricane destroyed all the city’s powerlines.

Not a single powerline was left standing in the Mexican city of Acapulco after Hurricane Otis ripped through the city, Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador said.

Millions of people in Acapulco were left without power after 165mph winds hammered the city yesterday.

President López Obrador added that small farmers had their corn crops devastated by Otis.

He said restoring power to the city is the top priority.

At least four people are missing after Hurricane Otis ripped through Acapulco, Mexican officials said on Thursday.

Secretary of State for Security Rosa Icela Rodriguez said at least 27 people have died, while four are missing after 165mph winds ripped through Acapulco yesterday.

Heavy rain from Otis will continue to impact areas of southwest Mexico across Guerrero and Oaxaca states, and may also cause “life-threatening coastal flooding” through Thursday, NHC said.