Acapulco, Guerrero — Water and food began arriving in Acapulco and surrounding areas over the weekend. More than a million people were left without power, water and food supplies after Category 5 Hurricane Otis slammed the region Wednesday.
Guerrero Governor Evelyn Salgado Pineda reported dozens of water trucks began arriving Saturday. Nearly two dozen water trucks, each carrying 10,000 liters of water, headed for the destroyed city Saturday.
Numerous stations were set up around the city and surrounding municipalities where locals arrived with empty garrafons, pots and buckets for free drinking water.
“We continue bringing water to the colonies on the periphery of Acapulco. We reinforce the emerging program with 21 10,000 liter trucks to distribute water reaching places such as Real Hacienda, Paso Limonero, La Vacacional, Tuncingo, El Quemado, San Agustín, La Zapata and Ciudad Renacimiento, providing this service free of charge and in solidarity with Acapulco families.
“Every day we are going to add more trucks carrying chlorinated water, intensifying this project until the home service through the hydraulic network is completely restored. With the help and coordination of everyone, Acapulco will move forward,” she posted on social media.
Elements of the National Guard also arrived over the weekend and set up tents were people were given bottles of water and handed out non-perishable food items.
The National Civil Protection Coordination (CNPC) says highways in and out of the city continue to be cleared of debris including fallen trees, poles and mud. Some secions of highway that opened up have been reduced to one lane.
The CNPC asks people to reduce their vehicle travels since priority is being given to facilitate the rapid transfer of humanitarian aid to communities that are in urgent need of assistance.
The collaboration of citizens is also essential to prioritize the mobilization of brigades from federal agencies that work hard to rehabilitate roads and restore energy, telephone and drinking water supply networks.
In addition, hospital transportation by land for the Ministry of Health teams must be guaranteed.
The Marine Plan of the Secretary of the Navy (Semar), Plan DN-III-E, from the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena) and Plan GN-A, from the National Guard (GN), have all been launched.
The Secretary of the Navy has been providing medical care in shelters, as well as supporting the removal of debris and cleaning of roads.
National Guard have been carrying out tours through the hurricane effected municipalities of Coyuca de Benítez, Atoyac de Álvarez, Ajuchitlán del Progreso, Benito Juárez, Tecpan de Galeana, Petatlán and Zihuatanejo with the aim of removing debris and cleaning homes.
The Coordinación Nacional de Protección Civil (CNPC) also says that fuel supplies have not yet been completely normalized. Although a Petróleos de México (Pemex) ship is on the way, provisions of fuel to official aid and rescue vehicles continues to be prioritized.
Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) reported that in coming days, a ship will arrive at the Port of Acapulco with 44,000 barrels of regular gasoline, 25,000 of premium gasoline and 3,000 barrels of jet fuel.
The Rescue and Medical Emergencies Squadron (ERUM) of the Secretariat of Citizen Security ( SSC ) of Mexico City made helicopters available to assist in the hospital transfer of boys and girls who require medical attention.
Humanitarian flights out of Acapulco to Mexico City started on October 27. Thousands of displaced tourist workers are expected to begin arriving in Cancun and Riviera Maya in search of work.
