Hurricane Otis leaves dozens dead, wreaks havoc on Acapulco

Hurricane Otis battered the resort city of Acapulco, as it tore across Mexico's Pacific coast on Wednesday.

Otis made landfall as a "potentially catastrophic" Category 5 storm with maximum sustained winds of 265 kmh (165 mph) when it hit the coast, before dissipating.

Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodriguez told a news conference Thursday that 27 people were dead and four were missing.

More than 500 emergency shelters were opened for residents seeking help in the aftermath of the storm.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador personally joined an official convoy heading for the seaside city by road.

"What Acapulco suffered was really disastrous," Lopez Obrador told a regular government press conference.

"The army is bringing machinery and we're going to try to reopen [the highway] as soon as possible," he told journalists who were also trying to reach Acapulco.

Some 8,400 members of Mexico's army, air force and national guard were deployed in and near Acapulco to assist in cleanup efforts, the country's defense ministry said.

Reports of destruction

Otis took out communications in the southern state of Guerrero, making it hard to assess initial damage, authorities said.

The hurricane is said to have flooded streets and its dangerous winds ripped roofs off homes and hotels.

Footage posted on social media showed buildings ripped open, with destroyed cars submerged in floodwaters.

Tourists were seen using mattresses as protective shields in their hotel rooms.

"The urgent thing is to attend to the affected population. We still don't have the damage assessment because there's no communication," Civil Protection national coordinator Laura Velazquez said.

The city's international airport was closed, after Otis damaged its control tower.

A rare Category 5 landfall

Hurricanes hit Mexico every year on both its Pacific and Atlantic coasts, but few of them make landfall as a Category 5 storm.

Researchers tracking Otis told the Associated Press that the storm also broke records for how quickly it intensified.

"It's one thing to have a Category 5 hurricane make landfall somewhere when you're expecting it or expecting a strong hurricane, but to have it happen when you're not expecting anything to happen is truly a nightmare," said Brian McNoldy, a hurricane researcher at the University of Miami.

This sentiment was shared by the Mexican president who said: "Rarely, according to records, does a hurricane develop so quickly and with such force."

Scientists have warned that storms are becoming more powerful as the world gets warmer with climate change.

zc,jcg/rc,wmr (AP, AFP, Reuters)