(Bloomberg) -- Mexico’s Pacific coast is starting to clean up after a storm flooded much of Acapulco, killing fifteen people in the city.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Sunday that the death toll in the city stood at 15, while newspaper El Heraldo reported the number nationwide was as high as 22. Many of the victims were killed in mudslides in the state of Guerrero, where Acapulco is located. The Reforma newspaper reported Sunday thousands of people lost their homes in Acapulco.
President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, who takes office Oct. 1, said in a post on X Sunday she will hold a meeting Wednesday with her cabinet and Guerrero Governor Evelyn Salgado to assess the damage from the hurricane and continue delivering the necessary aid.
The storm reached hurricane status on Sept. 23, battering the coast of Mexico and dumping heavy rains on Acapulco for almost a week. It has since slowed back to a tropical storm. The devastation is a heavy blow to the tourist city of Acapulco, which was still recovering from the impact of Hurricane Otis last year.
Salgado, governor of Guerrero, said in a post on X that heavy rains are still expected in Acapulco on Sunday.
“Electricity service has been restored and evacuations have been completed,” Lopez Obrador said on X, adding that there are 1,000 people in shelters. “The first phase of the Army, Navy and National Guard humanitarian rescue is nearing completion.”
The floodwaters in Acapulco have started to decline and aid to victims will continue, said AMLO, as the president is known.
The storm swept up the coast of Mexico just as Hurricane Helene was drenching the southern US, killing at least 64 people.
--With assistance from Alex Vasquez.
(Updates with number of deaths in Acapulco in first and second paragraphs, Lopez Obrador comments in sixth paragraph.)
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