39 dead after Mexico hurricane leaves vast destruction

Acapulco, Mexico:Acapulco was struggling Saturday to recover from an extraordinarily powerful hurricane which claimed 39 lives and provoked widespread power, water and telephone outages.

As aid finally began to arrive after Hurricane Otis’ devastating landfall Wednesday, the government upped the latest death toll from the previous report of 27.

The current toll includes 29 men and 10 women, Secretary of Security Rosa Icela Rodriguez said in a video on social media. The government has not identified any of the dead. Rodriguez said at least 10 people remain missing, up from four previously reported.

A security force of some 10,000 has been deployed across the area after reports that supermarkets had been looted, the authorities said.

Additionally, the Mexican army and navy have established an air bridge “to accelerate the distribution of humanitarian aid,” a government statement said. Thousands of litres of water and food supplies have been distributed in the famed resort city, home to 790,000 people.

The government said victims in need of specialized care were being flown to hospitals elsewhere in Mexico.

Despite the government efforts, many survivors around the area were still struggling to make contact with family and friends elsewhere in Mexico. Otis did enormous damage to phone lines and telecommunications towers.

Andrea Fernandez, who is eight months pregnant, said she was distraught -- unable to let her husband in another state know that she is fine. “There is no (cellular) service. I haven’t been able to communicate for three days,” she said, jostling on a bridge with about 20 others keen to make a call or text to loved ones. “I’m desperate,” she said through tears.

This picturesque tourist haunt, which once lured Hollywood stars like Elizabeth Taylor and Elvis Presley, had never experienced a Category 5 hurricane like Otis which, in a single day, made local landmarks built over decades look like they had been bombed out.