‘NIGHTMARE SCENARIO’

Hurricane Otis Cuts Off All Communications to Tourist-Favored Acapulco

Otis strengthened extremely rapidly, going from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in just over 12 hours.

Hurricane Otis—now officially the strongest Pacific Ocean storm to ever make landfall in Mexico—cut off all communications to the popular tourist beach town of Acapulco Wednesday, unleashing what researchers at the country’s National Hurricane Center called a “nightmare scenario.” Otis strengthened extremely rapidly, going from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane in just over 12 hours, giving residents little time to prepare for the devastation. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the government has received no reports of casualties—though they will have no real idea of the devastation until the storm passes and communications to the area can be restored.