The number of dead and missing from Hurricane Otis, a Category 5 storm that struck the Mexican Pacific resort of Acapulco last week, has risen to nearly 100, authorities in Guerrero state said on Monday.
Otis slammed Acapulco with winds of 165 mph (266 kph) on Wednesday, flooding the city and tearing off roofs from homes, hotels and other businesses, submerging vehicles, and cutting off communications as well as land and air routes.
Looting broke out The city’s population of about 900,000 has become increasingly desperate for food and water.
Evelyn Salgado, the governor of Guerrero state, home to Acapulco, said 45 people were confirmed dead and 47 others were missing, citing figures from state prosecutors.
On Sunday afternoon, Mexican federal civil protection authorities said 48 people had died, including 43 in Acapulco and five in nearby Coyuca de Benítez.
Among the dead were an American, a British and a Canadian citizen, according to Guerrero’s government.
Fishermen and workers on board tourist yachts gathered at Playa Honda in Acapulco on Sunday afternoon to search for missing colleagues and friends, but worried officials were not doing enough.
Luis Alberto Medina, a fisherman, said he was looking for six people who work in the port.
“It was really terrible,” Medina said. “We have already found the bodies of the others.”
Governor Salgado provided updated figures over the phone with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who during a regular government press conference urged local authorities to ensure the delivery of essential goods to Acapulco residents.
The cost of hurricane damage can skyrocket As high as $15 billion It is estimated that Mexico sent about 17,000 members of the armed forces to maintain order and help distribute tons of food and supplies in Acapulco.
ATMs in the city were also hit.
The Ministry of Finance said on Monday that two service points will be set up at branches of the Armed Forces Development Bank in Acapulco to enable people to withdraw money.
Access to food and water remains a challenge.
A line of about 150 people waiting for water provided by the local authority snaked through the muddy streets of the La Frontera neighborhood on Sunday afternoon, while residents carrying empty water containers lamented the hours-long wait.
“Look how many of us are there,” said one of them, Emilia Rojas, looking around desperately. “We are many. This water will not be enough.”
On a nearby street, Perla Ruby said the long wait was not comfortable, given how desperate people were.
She said: “We have been here since dawn, since five in the morning, at risk of being robbed, because now they are attacking people in the streets.” “Where is the government help?”
The disaster struck Acapulco just seven months before Mexico’s next presidential election, and Lopez Obrador on Monday repeated his claim that critics were attacking his response to Otis and inflating his influence for electoral reasons.
His fiery denunciations sparked criticism that the president was downplaying the severity of the disaster.
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