At least 27 people are dead and four missing on the Pacific coast of Mexico, which has been left in ruins after Hurricane Otis slammed into the coast Wednesday as a record-breaking Category 5 storm.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the government was working to re-establish power and clean up the devastation wrought by the category 5 hurricane that tore through the southern state of Guerrero and left Acapulco incommunicado.
López Obrador said the destruction was so complete that not a single power line pole remained standing in the impact zone.
Early images and accounts were of extensive devastation, toppled trees and power lines lying in brown floodwaters that in some areas extended for miles.
Many of the once sleek beachfront hotels in Acapulco looked like toothless, shattered hulks after the category 5 storm blew out hundreds – and possibly thousands – of windows.
In Acapulco, there seemed to be widespread frustration with authorities. While about 10,000 military troops were deployed to the area, they lacked the tools to clean tons of mud and fallen trees from the streets.
Hundreds of trucks from the government electricity company arrived in Acapulco early on Wednesday but seemed at a loss as to how to restore power, with downed electricity lines lying in feet of mud and water.
