By Vanessa Buschschlüter
Mexican authorities rushed to send emergency aid, restore communications and assess damage in the Pacific beach resort of Acapulco on Wednesday after a powerful hurricane left a trail of destruction. Photo: FRANCISCO ROBLES / AFP
At least 27 people were killed by Hurricane Otis, which made landfall on Mexico's Pacific coast on Wednesday, officials say.
Four more people have been reported missing, the security secretary said.
Acapulco was among the areas worst hit with 80 percent of the resort's hotels damaged and streets flooded.
The Mexican president travelled to the city by land and at one point had to get out of his car and walk as debris from a mudslide blocked the highway.
"The army is bringing machinery and we're going to try to reopen [the highway] as soon as possible," President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said.
With landlines and mobile phone coverage disrupted for more than 24 hours, it took officials until Thursday morning to release the death toll.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador looks out of the window as the vehicle transporting him is stuck in mud during a visit to the Kilometro 42 community, near Acapulco, after the passage of Hurricane Otis. Photo: RODRIGO OROPEZA / AFP
"Unfortunately, we have received word from the state and city governments that 27 people are dead and four are missing," Secretary of State for Security Rosa Icela Rodríguez said.
She did not give any details about where or how they had died.
The ministry of defence said 8000 soldiers had been deployed to Acapulco and towns along the coast to help with the clear-up and provide residents with food and water.
Hurricane Otis made landfall at 00.25 local time (7.25pm NZT) on Wednesday. It had intensified from a tropical storm into a category five hurricane - the most severe category - in just 12 hours.
It brought winds of 165 miles per hour (265km/h) to the coastal areas before easing in strength.
Citlali Portillo, who works in the tourism sector in Acapulco, described to Televisa TV how "the building shook as if there was an earthquake".
Videos showed guests sheltering in bathrooms and other areas without windows so they would not be injured by flying glass as windows were blown in by the wind.
The facade of a shopping centre in Acapulco was also ripped off.
More than 30 percent of the homes in the state of Guerrero lost power, plunging entire towns into darkness.
A house is seen at the edge of land that gave way at the Kilometro 42 community, near Acapulco, following the passage of Hurricane Otis. Photo: RODRIGO OROPEZA / AFP
And although the strength of the wind subsided relatively quickly as Otis moved inland, Mexico's meteorological service warned that torrential downpours were likely to drench Guerrero, while Michoacán, Mexico state, Morelos and Oaxaca should expect very heavy rain.
The US National Hurricane Centre said that the rainfall could "produce flash and urban flooding, along with mudslides in areas of higher terrain".
* This story was first published by BBC.
