Storm death toll rises amid recovery efforts

ACAPULCO, Mexico — At least 48 people died when Category 5 Hurricane Otis slammed into Mexico's southern Pacific coast, most of them in Acapulco, Mexican authorities said on Sunday as the death toll continued to climb.

Mexico's civil defense agency said in a statement that 43 of the dead were in the resort city of Acapulco and five in nearby Coyuca de Benitez.

In Acapulco, families held funerals for the dead on Sunday and continued the search for essentials while government workers and volunteers cleared streets clogged with muck and debris from the hurricane.

Katy Barrera, 30, said on Sunday that her aunt's family was buried under a landslide when tons of mud and rock tumbled down onto their home. Her aunt's body was found with the remains of their three children ranging in age from 2 to 21.Her uncle was still missing. Separately, Barrera's mother and brother also remained missing.

"The water came in with the rocks, the mud and totally buried them," Barrera, who was standing outside a local morgue, said of her aunt's family.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said most of his Cabinet was already in or headed for Acapulco, and that he would return there later on Sunday to lead recovery efforts as thousands of soldiers and police descended on the city.

"We're going to get Acapulco back on its feet, starting with its people," he said in a video on social media.

Armed forces deployed

Mexico has deployed about 17,000 members of the armed forces to keep order and help distribute tons of food and supplies in Acapulco.

The cost of damage is estimated to climb as high as $15 billion, and Lopez Obrador said the ministers of finance and the economy would be in Acapulco on Monday. He also invited the Mexican central bank governor to travel to the city.

Cleanup efforts are likely to take time, and the government in an update on Sunday said Otis damaged 273,844 homes in Guerrero, more than the 223,924 homes registered in Acapulco in 2020, along with 600 hotels and condominiums.

One community remains cut off due to an overflowing river, according to the authorities.

Guerrero state governor Evelyn Salgado said electricity has been restored to 58 percent in Acapulco, and that officials had visited 10,000 families in the area to assess the damage.

Lopez Obrador said he expected electricity to be fully restored in the city by Tuesday.

Agencies via Xinhua