Hurricane Otis kills at least 27 people in Acapulco as damage is revealed
- Andrew Freedman, author ofAxios Generate
A shopping mall destroyed after hurricane Otis hit Acapulco on October 25. Photo: Oscar Guerrero Ramirez/Getty Images.
Hurricane Otis has killed at least 27 people in Acapulco, Mexico, according to the AP and other media reports. Otis was a Category 5 storm when it made a direct hit on the city of Acapulco early Wednesday.
The big picture: With electricity and communications still out in the Mexican resort city, reports are slowly coming in of the severe damage to the resort city.
- The storm intensified at one of the fastest rates on record for this part of the world, jumping from a tropical storm to a Category 5 storm in just 24 hours.
- This defied forecasts from the National Hurricane Center, which called for a Category 1 storm at landfall.
- Initial reporting from the city depicts buildings missing walls, with twisted metal. Bent street signs, glass missing from building windows, and other damage consistent with exposure to violent Category 5 winds.
Of note: Because the eyewall, where the most intense winds were located, moved right over Acapulco, Hurricane Otis may have set a record for the largest population to experience Category 5 winds in a single storm.
- Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador traveled to Acapulco to see the storm damage and coordinate aid, which involves the Mexican military. His journey was slowed by landslides.
- "We were prepared. However, it was something exceptional and unexpected," López Obrador said Thursday.
The intrigue: Several factors likely combined to allow Hurricane Otis to rapidly intensify, including climate change-driven trends.
Go deeper: How Hurricane Otis shocked forecasters in a "nightmare scenario"