In less than a year, Acapulco is under water again with the arrival of Hurricane John, which as it passes through southern Mexico leaves several dead, flooded neighborhoods and relive the nightmare of the devastating Otis.
At least five people have died, the president said Andrés Manuel López Obradoralthough local media have reported a higher figure. Four would have died in surrounding towns and one in Acapulco, the president said.
According to various media, the number of fatalities is feared to be at least 13, including several children. There was no immediate confirmation of that figure from the government.
“We are desperate”Bárbara Encinas told AFP while standing in line in front of a supermarket on Friday in the midst of a situation she described as “critical.”
“We still have not recovered from Hurricane Otis,” a category 5 hurricane that hit in October of last year. “Right now we are in a situation that seems to be worse,” he laments.
Around 25,000 troops from the army and the National guard They were in the area helping the victims, López Obrador reported in a press conference.
“We are rescuing those who were trapped by the flood in neighborhoods of Acapulco,” where “it has rained a lot, four days of consecutive rain, as had not been seen in a long time,” he said, while 19 neighborhoods of the city were flooded. , he added.
Around 1,200 people were in emergency shelters, according to López Obrador. The flood waters They reached up to a meter and a half deep in some areas.
“(Food) pantries are already being delivered, they are already installing kitchens“, said.
People walk on a flooded street heading to a shelter following Hurricane John in Acapulco, Guerrero State, Mexico, on September 27, 2024. Mexican troops scrambled Friday to help victims of a hurricane that battered the Pacific coast, including the beach resort of Acapulco, which is still recovering from a devastating storm last year. (Photo by Francisco ROBLES / AFP)
“Panic”
John relived the recent traumas of Hurricane Otis last October, which left a trail of destruction and claimed several dozen lives.
Residents of the city wandered with their belongings on their backs through streets turned into muddy rivers. Local media showed images of cars dragged by the waters, some up to one and a half meters high.
The resident Marta Soteldo He told AFP having felt “a lot of panic“. “I got sick from my nerves because two days before it had been windy, just like (hurricane) Otis started (in 2023) and it raised dust, sheets, everything. The children became hysterical,” he said.
Inflatable boats and even a jet ski were used to navigate the streets of Acapulco, once a haven for the jet set in the 1960s and 1970s.
John hit Mexico earlier this week as a major Category 3 hurricane, causing flooding, landslides and several deaths.
The storm, which is moving slowly, has been hitting the coast for several days, losing strength at times and returning then to intensify.
On Friday, John made landfall again as a tropical storm with sustained winds of up to 72 kilometers per hour, threatening to cause “catastrophic flash flooding and landslides,” the NHC said.
In recent weeks, historic storms have hit multiple parts of the globe.
For scientists, climate change that warms ocean waters makes these tropical storms more unpredictable and more intense.
