The Category 5 storm slammed into Mexico's Pacific coast early Wednesday, killing at least 27 people, with at least four still missing.
A river carried mud and downed trees in the Zapata neighborhood on the outskirts of the city of Acapulco, Mexico, after Hurricane Otis swept through the area.A river carried mud and downed trees in the Zapata neighborhood on the outskirts of the city of Acapulco, Mexico, after Hurricane Otis swept through the area.ACAPULCO, Mexico — As a bright, hot sun filled Acapulco in the days following the furious arrival of Hurricane Otis, it revealed a city utterly transformed by destruction.
As NPR visits, it has found tourist areas devastated. Broken glass filled hotel lobbies. Avenue-lining palm trees were stripped clean or thrown across the road. Winds reachingHotel guests said they didn't know how they survived as the furious winds shattered glass and tossed furniture. Speaking from Acapulco on Friday, Mexican Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval said 150 buses have been deployed to take tourists and residents out of the disaster area and 120 more would be sent Friday.
Manuel Magallón, 25, hiding from the sun in a wide-brimmed straw hat, trekked across Acapulco for hours in search of medication for his aunt. She was recently released from a cancer ward at a public hospital, which was sending patients home as it didn't have electricity, Magallón said. While crews were working with heavy machinery in a few places, in others, army personnel seemed underresourced. A soldier pounded on a fallen concrete pole with a sledgehammer, trying to gradually break it into manageable pieces. A handful of other troops slashed at a massive fallen tree with machetes in a slow attempt to remove it from the road.In the hills above Acapulco's iconic bay, the damage looked different but was equally devastating for the city's working-class residents.
Since the storm hit, residents in Zapata as well as most guests and workers in the tourist area said they have not seen a helping hand, neither from the government nor aid groups.
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