At least 27 people have died on the west coast of Mexico in a devastating hurricane.
Another four people are still missing, Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez said on Thursday. Hurricane Otis caused severe damage in the famous seaside resort of Acapulco.
"What happened in Acapulco is a disaster," said President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in his daily press conference. An airlift is now underway to supply the population with food.
Otis hit the coast on Tuesday night as an extremely dangerous category-5 hurricane with sustained wind speeds of almost 270 kilometres per hour and gusts of up to 330 kilometres per hour. It then lost strength over land and finally dissipated.
López Obrador travelled to Acapulco by car on Wednesday with several ministers.
The government delegation kept getting stuck on its way due to landslides and flooded roads.
After a meeting with representatives of the rescue services, the armed forces and the local authorities, the president flew back to Mexico City in a helicopter.
Images in the media showed devastated stretches of coastline in the city.
The local government set up emergency shelters, according to the governor of the state of Guerrero, Evelyn Salgado Pineda. Around 8,400 soldiers were deployed to the region to help with recovery and clean-up efforts, according to the Ministry of Defence.
Otis also damaged the early warning system for earthquakes on Mexico's Pacific coast. Communication with at least 27 of the approximately 100 sensors of the seismic observation network was interrupted, the operator announced on Wednesday.
Otis developed from a tropical storm into an extremely dangerous hurricane within only 12 hours. According to experts, the rapid intensification of hurricanes is due to climate change. As the surface temperatures of the oceans rise, hurricanes are not only able to absorb more water vapour, but do so at an ever faster rate.
