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Después de la tormenta [1]

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Date: 2023-10-26  

The 3rd major hurricane to strike Mexico’s Pacific coast this month is gone. As of this morning Otis isn’t even a tropical depression. But since the 11th two Cat 4 storms (both of which fortunately weakened before landfall) struck Puerta Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas on the 21st. Then nature balanced the scales and took a Cat 1 storm and turned into a Cat 5 monster that plowed into a town of a million people unaware of what was coming. And in case you’re wondering, the Pacific hurricane season runs until November 30th. We’re likely to get hit again.

A full list of the fatalities and damages from Hurricane Otis aren’t going to be known for some time. Infrastructure like power lines, roads, and more are heavily damaged. CFE, the national power company, reported that nearly 60 high voltage transmission towers (as shown here) near Acapulco are down.

I’m having trouble getting up to date information. Much of what I’m writing about I pulled from articles in El Pais. I’m trying to use Mexican sources for information.

Roads and bridges are also heavily damaged. The mountainous areas near Acapulco have limited roads connecting towns. As of this morning a 360 kilometer detour was required to reach the city by alternate routes.

The only good news I’m getting so far is that only 27 people have been reported killed by the storm. Esperaré lo mejor. Temeré lo peor. That number is likely to rise. A Cat 2 storm that hit with more time to prepare left around 200 dead several years ago.

I mentioned it earlier but Otis was unusual in many ways. No Cat 5 storm has hit Mexico’s Pacific coast in recorded history. And it grew, rapidly, from barely being a Cat 1 hurricane into a monster in less than 24 hours adding nearly 100 knots to its wind speed in the process. Models didn’t predict this could happen though there is some recent evidence suggesting that increased surface temperatures are dramatically increasing the chances of storms growing quickly. We might be seeing more of this sort of “surprise” Cat 5 storm in the future due to the climate crisis.

I’m not going to turn this diary into a disaster porn montage. I’m not seeing good information on what can be done to help at this moment. The remoteness of the location combined with lack of communications isn’t helping that situation. I’ll try posting updates or new diaries about this as I find more information.

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