Mexico, Acapulco. Hurricane Otis. Looting after being hit by a powerful element. The authorities send the army and police

The Mexican city of Acapulco is still trying to recover after Hurricane Otis hit it on Wednesday. About 17,000 soldiers and police officers were deployed to the city over the weekend as criminal activity has increased since the outbreak.

The death toll has not changed for now. Authorities still report the death of 39 people – including 29 men and 10 women. At least 10 people are missing.

People mainly steal food and water from grocery stores to provide themselves with the most necessary supplies. There are also those who leave shopping malls with expensive electronics and clothing.

On Sunday, it was reported that the main road connecting Acapulco with the rest of the country had reopened, providing an opportunity for the delivery of essential goods to the city. So far, residents have been very disappointed with the lack of support from the state.

– The government did not provide any help or even hope – said Apolonio Maldonado, but from among the residents. – They did not provide any food, not even mattresses or beds – he said, angry.

Unfortunately, the consequences of the hurricane also have a political dimension. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador promised to support residents in rebuilding the city. At the same time, he accused his political rivals of exaggerating the scale of the looting in order to discredit him before the presidential elections scheduled for 2024.

– They circle like vultures, they don’t care about human pain, they want to hurt us – he said in a statement published on social media.

Hurricane Otis made landfall in Mexico on Wednesday. It brought wind gusts of over 260 kilometers per hour. Shortly before landing on land, he transformed into… storm tropical hurricane into a hurricane of the fifth – highest – category on the Saffir-Simpson scale. In Acapulco, which suffered the most from Otis, as many as 80 percent of the hotels were destroyed, and many streets were full of debris and water.

Otis was the most powerful storm to ever hit Mexico’s west coast. Its development and strength surprised even forecasters from the US National Hurricane Center. Reconstruction of all the damage will cost billions of dollars.