Nearly 100 dead or missing from Hurricane Otis in Mexico, food and water still scarce

Hurricane Otis devastated Acapulco with 166-mph winds in the middle of last week, flooding the city, ripping off roofs from homes, hotels and other businesses, submerging vehicles and cutting off communications and disrupting road and air traffic.

Nearly 100 people dead or missing due to storm in mexico, humiliation of robbery and lack of food and food 1 — Hurricane Otis causes heavy damage in Mexico. Photo: Reuters

Looting broke out as the city’s population of nearly 900,000 people became increasingly short of food and water. Guerrero Governor Evelyn Salgado said 45 people had died and another 47 were missing.

The dead included an American citizen, a Briton and a Canadian, according to the Guerrero state government. Many Acapulco residents are still struggling to find basic necessities as food and water become increasingly scarce.

Rumualda Hernandez, 62, of Renacimiento, a few miles from the coast, called on authorities to send help after she had to walk 10 blocks to fetch water from a cistern to wash her muddy clothes.

“I was shaking with fear,” said Hernandez, recalling the floodwaters rushing into her home and rising above her head. “I thought I was going to die.”

Luis Alberto Medina, a fisherman, said he was searching for six people who worked at the port. “The storm was really terrible,” Medina said. “We found the bodies of others.”

The cost of damage caused by the storm is estimated to be as high as $15 billion, and Mexico has sent some 17,000 members of its armed forces to maintain order and help distribute tons of food and supplies in Acapulco.

ATMs have also been attacked in the city. Mexico's Finance Ministry said on Monday that two service points will be set up at branches of the Armed Forces Development Bank in Acapulco to allow people to withdraw cash.

Access to food and water remains challenging and retail group ANTAD on Monday called on the government to step up efforts to prevent looting at its stores.

“We condemn the looting of civilians,” ANTAD said in a statement. “There is no justification for it.”

Trung Kien (according to Reuters)

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