The strongest storm to ever hit Mexico’s Pacific coast with Acapulco barely prepared to withstand earthquakes struck hard.
Wednesday, October 25, 2023, at 1:25 a.m. near Acapulco on Mexico’s southern Pacific coast, tragedy struck. More specifically, a Hurricane named Otis made landfall as a category 5 with prolonged winds of 165 mph. What made this category five hurricane different was its rapid intensification. It was predicted to make landfall as a 70 mph tropical storm, but it became a major hurricane in around 12 hours, leaving residents a short time to evacuate. There was a large amount of damage to structures, downed trees, severe flooding, and mudslides, and to make matters worse, a 4.4-magnitude earthquake was detected in Zihuatanejo, northwest of Acapulco, just hours after being hit by the Hurricane. Officially, the government only recognized 45 people dead, but the yacht club on its own said 60 were missing.
“It’s disappointing for many reasons, but mostly because it’s a place that holds a lot of sentimental value to many, and now it’s destroyed. I have a house there that was more or less damaged; however, we are not focusing on fixing that at this moment. Right now, our focus is on helping the people of Acapulco.”
— sophomore Manola Prat
The President of Mexico isn’t helping as much. He says he’s going to Acapulco to help but takes a car instead of a plane, knowing roads are closed because of the Hurricane. This results in the guards all going to help the president get into a helicopter and take away their attention from the people in real need. He indicated he would go on Wednesday for a meeting and didn’t show. Mexico desperately needs help, and the government isn’t cooperating.
“It’s disheartening that the United States doesn’t support Mexico, its neighboring country, especially considering that Mexico is often the first to lend a hand to the US. We all have cherished memories there, and it’s time we take action to support the places we love rather than relying on a government that often fails to act.”
— senior Andrea Celada
As it’s known, hurricanes are fueled by warm water, and oceans are getting hotter because they soak up excess heat from the atmosphere, which is getting hotter because of greenhouse gas emissions, mainly from vehicles and power plants. Therefore, hurricanes are more complicated to predict because of global warming. Recent research shows that the connection between climate change and rapid intensification is now twice as likely to happen than it was 30 years ago. Meaning it’s a world issue, not just Mexico’s.
