On October 25, 2023, Hurricane Otis, a category five storm, made landfall off the coast of southern Mexico, raking towns and cities with winds of 165 mph (270 km/h). Hurricane Otis killed at least 27 people in the state of Guerrero. It left Acapulco, a major port city and well-liked tourist attraction, with extensive damage to structures and power outages.
Otis was declared a “life-threatening storm surge” by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), bringing with it strong winds, big, potentially fatal waves, and copious amounts of rainfall. The NOAA cautioned that this could result in mudslides and flash flooding.
The National Hurricane Center states that no hurricane with a strength comparable to this one has ever been recorded for this region of Mexico.
Otis “explosively intensified” by 110 mph (177 km/h) in less than 24 hours, according to forecasters, quickly strengthening from a tropical storm to a category five hurricane. As hurricanes get stronger due to climate change, there will be more storms like this one in the future.
