ACAPULCO, Mexico (Reuters) – Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday the government would this week set out a plan to aid the stricken city of Acapulco after the beach resort was hammered by a devastating hurricane that killed dozens of people.
Lopez Obrador said measures to rebuild the city would be presented on Wednesday, and floated the idea of drawing funds from 15 billion pesos ($831 million) in trusts held for the judiciary that were canceled last week by the Senate.
The cost of damage from the hurricane could climb as high as $15 billion according to estimates, and Mexico has sent some 17,000 members of the armed forces to keep order and help distribute tons of food and supplies in Acapulco.
“The 15 billion (pesos) should go the victims in Acapulco,” Lopez Obrador told reporters, referring to the funds held in the trusts.
Otis battered Acapulco with winds of 165 miles per hour (266 km per hour) on Wednesday, flooding the city, tearing roofs from homes, hotels and other businesses, submerging vehicles, and severing communications as well as road and air connections.
Mexican civil protection authorities have so far confirmed the deaths of 48 people in Acapulco and nearby areas.
The government of Guerrero, the resort’s home state, said on Tuesday that the number of missing people had risen to 58.
Looting broke out as the city’s population of nearly 900,000 became increasingly desperate for food and water.
($1 = 18.0499 Mexican pesos)
(Reporting by Stefanie Eschenbacher; Editing by Dave Graham and Alistair Bell)
