Read at 3 different speeds

Hurricane Otis wreaks havoc in Mexico - 1st November 2023

Hurricane Otis made landfall on Mexico’s Pacific coast, lashing the resort town of Acapulco. The catastrophic category five storm, packing wind speeds approaching 270 kilometres an hour, battered 80 percent of the destination’s hotels.

Surrounding neighbourhoods were ravaged by mudslides, homes and businesses smashed to smithereens and there’s massive power outages and no water supplies. Landslides and debris have hindered 17,000 troops dispatched by the government as aid to affected communities.

Nevertheless, residents have joined forces to fend for themselves. Puerto Marques resident Margarita Carmona spurred on fellow residents to clear the debris to hasten aid to the area.

Margarita Carmona: "We all agreed, we are going to unite as neighbours to pick up everything that is in the way, so that we can get through and wait for the help that may arrive."

Shattered glass and debris underfoot have become another safety hazard for residents who are left with just the clothes on their backs, as fisherman Julian Matadama bemoans.

Julian Matadama: "We are barefoot and we have nothing. We do not want to see the wounds we have on our feet because we don't want it to stop us going out to get food for our children."

As residents come to terms with the devastation, mounting fears over the future prospects of tourism and people’s livelihoods worry Omar Flores.

Omar Flores: "There won't be any tourists for a while. We don't know how we are going to get by. All we can think about is where we will get the money from to rebuild what we used to have."

Once a favourite getaway for Hollywood stars which has been rife with organised criminal activities for years, residents fear the local tourism industry will also take a battering. Nevertheless, as they face the aftermath of the storm, Juana Flores stresses that their priority is to pick up the pieces and rebuild.

Juana Flores: "Right now we are seeing how we are going to be able to work. First and foremost, we need to fix the roof, and then with the little produce that survived, we will start working again. That's the only thing we can do."