Hurricane Otis Leaves Behind ‘Nightmare Scenario’ After Striking Acapulco, Mexico, Knocks Out Communications
Otis was the strongest hurricane to ever make landfall on the Pacific side of Mexico. It was also the first time an Eastern Pacific hurricane made landfall at Category 5 intensity.
Hurricane Otis made a historic landfall near Acapulco, Mexico, at Category 5 intensity early Wednesday, packing destructive winds up to 165 mph after rapidly intensifying just hours before reaching the coast.
Hurricane Otis knocked out all communications and unleashed a “nightmare scenario” in Acapulco in southern Mexico on Wednesday morning. Tracking over the incredibly warm ocean water near the coast, the storm rapidly intensified just before landfall and gave officials and residents little time to prepare.
Otis strengthened from a tropical storm to an extremely dangerous Category 5 hurricane in just 12 hours before it slammed ashore as the strongest storm on record to hit this area and the Pacific coast of Mexico.
The sudden burst of power took many by surprise as Otis bore down on Acapulco, a popular tourist destination that’s also home to roughly 800,000 people.
Axios Reports — The big picture: The storm “explosively intensified” on Tuesday into the evening, with its maximum sustained winds jumping by 110 mph in just 24 hours — a mark only exceeded in modern times by Hurricane Patricia in 2015, per NHC.
It remained a powerful Category 5 hurricane through landfall early Wednesday.
The storm’s 12-hour intensification rate of 80 mph was the fastest in the eastern North Pacific during the satellite era, per meteorologist Philip Klotzbach of Colorado State University.
🔗Source: Fox, CNN, Axios
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