Hurricane Otis Causes $15 Billion in Damages to Resort Town of Acapulco

The Mexican government revealed that at least 27 people were killed after Hurricane Otis made landfall on Wednesday at the popular resort town of Acapulco, which sustained an estimated $15 billion in damages.

According to Reuters.com, the Category 5 hurricane ripped the roofs off homes and hotels, smashed glass windows out of resorts and residential buildings, flooded streets and left wreckage across Acapulco.

Wind speeds reached 165 miles per hour, causing extensive damage to some of the most famous hotels on the tourism destination’s shoreline, which heavily depends on the travel industry to drive the local economy. 

“What Acapulco suffered was really disastrous,” Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said.

Government officials revealed on Thursday that the air traffic control tower at Acapulco International Airport had been reopened after enduring extensive damage from the storm. An air bridge enabling tourists to reach Mexico City reopened on Friday.

Guerrero state Governor Evelyn Salgado called Hurricane Otis “totally devastating,” and revealed the storm hit 80 percent of the city’s hotels.

“We laid down on the floor, and some between beds. We prayed a lot,” Jacob Sauczuk, a tourist staying at a beachfront property, told the Associated Press. “It looked as if someone had put clothes, beds and furniture in a blender, leaving a shredded mass.”

“I took shelter in the bathroom, and thankfully the door held,” another guest told The AP. “But there were some rooms where the wind blew out the windows and the doors.”

The local government was working to restore electricity, communication and drinking water pumps.

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