Hurricane Otis – latest: Fears grow for people still missing in Acapulco after storm killed 27

The Category 5 hurricane that lashed through parts of Mexico’s Pacific coast was downgraded to a tropical storm, just hours after it made landfall.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said maximum wind speeds were around 60 mph on Wednesday afternoon.

It was located around 130 miles North / North-West of Acapulco.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Punta Maldonado and Acapulco.

“A Tropical Storm Warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area,” the NHC wrote.

A 4.4-magnitude earthquake was detected in the resort city of Zihuatanejo – just 120 miles north of Acapulco – hours after Otis caused massive destruction to the southern part of Mexico’s Pacific coast.

A preliminary evaluation of the area was conducted by state and municipal personnel in the area, the Mexican civil protection coordination agency said.

Residents were not warned of the earthquake because the seismic system used to warn people was unable to operate.

SkyAlerts – the early earthquake-warning service, said damage left behind from Otis had left their infrastructure “temporarily inoperative”.

A “nightmare scenario” struck shortly after midnight in the coastal city of Acapulco on Wednesday.

Hurricane Otis roared ashore in southern Mexico, the strongest-ever storm to make landfall on the country’s west coast.

The hurricane underwent explosive intensification from a Category 1 to a Category 5 in just 12 hours in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, catching forecasters by surprise. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) described it as a “nightmare scenario” for the region.

The storm made landfall with 165mph winds and torrential rain of up to 15 inches in places.

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Hurricane Otis slammed into Mexico early on Wednesday as the strongest-ever storm to make landfall on the country’s west coast.

Otis went from a Category 1 to a Category 5 hurricane in only 12 hours — the fastest rate ever recorded in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

The National Hurricane Center considers a storm to rapidly intensify if it increases wind speed by 35mph (46kph) in 24 hours.

While it is still too early to say what impact the climate crisis had on this individual weather event, record-breaking ocean temperatures are fuelling stronger and more destructive cyclones in general.

Heat in the ocean supercharges hurricanes with more moisture and stronger winds. This heat is being caused by a fossil-fuel-driven climate crisis with El Nino, a cyclical weather pattern, layered on top.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says that the climate crisis’s impact on hurricane power is “like adding fuel to a fire”.

Sea level rise is compounding the danger. Since the late 19th century, global sea level has risen by eight inches – threatening coastal communities and increasing flooding risk when storms push water inland.

Rising sea levels can also wipe out natural coastal defences which act as buffers to hurricanes such as marshy wetlands and swamps.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said that rescue efforts and repair convoys were being hampered by the lack of access. Roads were covered in debris and bridges had collapsed in places after Hurricane Otis.

Flights had been grounded and officials were struggling to access the area as the local military airport had also sustained damage.

The storm moved inland on Wednesday bringing powerful winds and heavy rains across the states of Guerrero and Oaxaca. Otis is expected to begin to dissipate when it slams into Mexico’s mountain range later tonight.

The town of Acapulco remained almost inaccessible by roads Wednesday night as officials continue to assess the damage from Hurricane Otis.

Little is known about possible deaths or the full extent of the damage as experts are calling Otis the strongest storm in history to make landfall along the Eastern Pacific Coast.

Many of the once sleek beachfront hotels looked like toothless shattered hulks, after Hurricane Otis blew out hundreds - and possibly thousands - of hotel windows.

Choked with mud and debris, with no electricity or internet service, the Pacific coast resorts descended into chaos after the storm, as thousands engaged in massive looting.

Diamond Zone, an oceanfront area replete with hotels, restaurants and other tourist attractions, looked to be mostly underwater in drone footage that Foro TV posted online on Wednesday afternoon, with boulevards and bridges completely hidden by an enormous lake of brown water.

Large buildings had their walls and roofs partially or completely ripped off.

Dislodged solar panels, cars and debris littered the lobby of one severely damaged hotel. People wandered up to their waists in water in some areas, while on other less-flooded streets soldiers shovelled rubble and fallen palm fronds from the pavement.

While much of the city was in the dark and without phone service, some people were able to use satellite phones loaned by the Red Cross to let family members know they were OK.