A “NIGHTMARE” hurricane slammed into a coastal Mexican city head on early this morning, cutting it off from the rest of the world.
Hurricane Otis rapidly intensified into a Category 5 storm before ripping through the beach resort of Acapulco with 165mph winds, sending tourists fleeing.
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The hurricane made landfall at around 12.25am local time – pummelling Acapulco with high winds, torrential rains and powerful waves.
Forecasters predicted a “nightmare scenario” for the point where Otis made landfall – and that took place today for those asleep in the coastal city.
Footage shows the hurricane battering buildings, while people ran for cover as they found themselves at the eye of one the most powerful storms to hit Mexico’s Pacific coast.
Residents had scrambled to get emergency shelters ready, but Otis’ sudden intensity caught many off guard.
As the hurricane approached and intensified, Mexico’s president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador urged people to move away from the sea, rivers and ravines and into emergency shelters.
Today, he stated that there has been “no communication” with the affected area as it has been totally cut off by the storm, adding that they have no current reports of death.
Mexican authorities reported power outages across the impoverished state of Guerrero.
Schools have been shut, flights cancelled and soldiers are patrolling beaches and opening storm shelters.
The National Guard said it was ready for rescues and evacuations.
By 6am local time [1pm BST], Otis had moved inland and weakened rapidly but winds of 110mph still pounded the affected area, according to the National Hurricane Centre (NHC).
It is predicted to dissipate over the coming 24 hours, but in the meantime it is bringing heavy rainfall of up to 20 inches and flash flooding into wide swathes of southern Mexico.
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Last night as the storm brewed, Acapulco Mayor Abelina Lpez said “we’re on maximum alert” as she urged residents to hunker down at home or move to the city’s shelters.
The NHC had described it on Tuesday as an “extremely serious” situation as the core of the “destructive” hurricane was headed straight for the beach resort.
Acapulco is a city of more than one million people, where both luxury homes and slums alike cover the city’s hillsides with views of the Pacific.
Between the internationally known resorts of Acapulco and Zihuatanejo are two dozen small towns and villages perched between the mountains and the ocean.
Otis is forecast to create a storm surge, whipping up “large and destructive waves” that could be life-threatening to these unprotected coastal areas where it made landfall.
Mexico’s national water agency warned of six-to-eight-meter surf off Guerrero and parts of Oaxaca.
As the area braced for its landfall, there were fears that Otis could be more devastating than Hurricane Pauline that hit Acapulco in 1997.
The storm destroyed huge parts of the city and killed more than 200 people.
Hundreds of others were injured in flooding and mudslides that followed.
Otis’ arrival came just days after Hurricane Norma struck the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula to the north.
Meanwhile in the Atlantic, Hurricane Tammy continued moving northeastward over open water with winds of 85 mph close to Bermuda.
The storm is expected to become a powerful extra-tropical cyclone by Thursday, according to the NHC.
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