por ALFREDO AZCARATE VARELA
THE BAJA POST/EDITOR
October 24, Acapulco was “taken by surprise” by hurricane class 5 Otis, one of the most iconic tourist destinations in Mexico and famous all over the world, and today it lies down, vanquished by one of the biggest hurricanes, which brought along wind gusts reaching 200 miles an hour speed, and caused destruction and destroyed poles and cables, as well as optic fiber, leaving the city isolated from the rest of the world, at least for the first 24 hours.
It is a pitiful and terrifying “first time”, since a hurricane this big and hazardous had never hit a coastal city of more than a million inhabitants, Acapulco is the city and Otis the name of the cyclone ot hurricane that has left lot of of deaths and almost detsroyed the touristic infrastructure of the city, which is famous all over the world.
Acapulco is a very important city for Mexico´s economy, since it attracts millions of tourists every year, for about 70 years it has grown to become a worldwide touristic destination and a has huge foreign currency attraction, since people from all over the world come to spend vacations and holydays.
Hurricane Otis hit ground a little after midnight on Tuesday, October 24 and the first minutes of Wednesday 25, for about four hours, wind gusts reaching 200 miles an hour speed that caused several trees to fall, a “heavy rainstorm” which caused floods, landslides blocked highways and 58 high tension electricity towers,
As of November 7, there is a body count of 48 dead and the rescue labors are still going on, there is an uncountable figure of people who are now officially disappeared, which soon move the fatality figures, destroyed hotels, restaurants and night clubs, some of them totally damaged and others are working to recover and open in an uncertain future for them.
Electricity hasn´t been recovered, about ten days after Hurricane Otis, and the recovery rate varies, according to the Electricity Federal Commission, whose technicians and engineers are working hard to reconnect Acapulco, Coyuca and other cities.
But not only the towers were damaged, a lot of domestic electricity installations might also be down, so after putting up towers, poles and cables again, there is still a huge challenge to have electrical power working again in Acapulco, Coyuca and several other Municipalities.
In Mexicali, the UABC (State University) the State Congress and Government as well as City Hall, along with several Civic organizations and schools, have collected water, food and other items to help the affected big necessities for food, water, hygiene items and medicine, and have already sent them to those suffering the tragedy in Acapulco and other cities.
