Series of
Reports on Hurricane Pauline and the Acapulco, MX Flood Disaster
10/09/97-10/15/97
ERRI DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT-ERRI Risk Assessment Services-Thursday, October 9, 1997 Vol. 3 - 282
HUATULCO, MEXICO (EmergencyNet News) - Hurricane Pauline pounded the Pacific coast Thursday with high winds and towering seas as it churned northward toward Acapulco, Mexico's most populous resort. Pauline raked tourist hotels and fishing villages northwest of Huatulco through the night, churning up 30-foot seas with 115 MPH winds. There were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths. But telephone communication to much of the coast was cut.
ERRI EMERGENCY SERVICES REPORT-EmergencyNet NEWS Service-Friday, October 10, 1997 Vol. 1 - 283
HURRICANE PAULINE POUNDS MEXICO ...
From the ERRI Watch Center
ACAPULCO, MEXICO (EmergencyNet News) - Hurricane Pauline swept through the south coast of Mexico and turned the famed tourist city of Acapulco into a disaster area. At least 122 people died as Pauline made its deadly trek through the resorts and small fishing villages of Guerrero and Oaxaca states and there were reports that hundreds more remained missing.
Late on Thursday Pauline was downgraded to a tropical storm as it moved slowly inland about 40 miles northeast of Manzanillo, a port of 125,000 people located about 320 miles southwest of Mexico City. Hurricane forecasters said it could turn out to sea and pick up hurricane force again.
The greatest disaster area was Acapulco, Mexico's most glamourous resort, The city suffered such an onslaught of rain on Thursday that dozens of bodies were washed up on the main tourist strip and the beach.
Acapulco was reported to be knee-deep in water, there were no supplies of fresh water, and the Red Cross launched a nationwide effort to deliver supplies of food, medicine and clothing to storm-damaged areas.
Authorities said that 102 bodies had been found in Acapulco. Five other bodies were found on the state border with Oaxaca. In Oaxaca, the state government said 14 people were killed and at least 15 others were missing.
Weather experts said the severity of the storm might have been made worse by El Nino, a weather phenomeon that warms southern Pacific waters and leads to more frequent and severe storms. Mexico each year suffers hurricanes on its Caribbean coast, but strong Pacific storms rarely hit the coast hard.
ERRI EMERGENCY SERVICES REPORT-EmergencyNet NEWS Service Saturday, October 11, 1997 Vol. 1 - 284
DISASTER NEWS - LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN
ACAPULCO, MEXICO (EmergencyNet News) -- Mexican officials said that about 200 people have been reported killed in Guerrero state and neighboring Oaxaca. At least 150 of the deaths occurred in Acapulco, Mexico's most popular resort city.
Red Cross officials denied media reports that the agency was saying the hurricane had caused about 400 deaths. Hurricane Pauline's dangerous winds and drenching rains tore off large sections of rock and mud from the hills surrounding Acapulco. Rivers of mud and rocks roared downhill before dawn Thursday, burying everything in their path.
The death toll was expected to rise as rescue workers pulled more bodies out of the thick mud. The morgue was reported full, so bodies waiting for identification were placed in half-flooded schools, one-room shacks and funeral parlors. The trued death toll may never be known because people were pulling out dead family members and burying them without notifying anyone. The Acapulco mayor's office said that the official death toll is partial and incomplete.
There is a little electricity and no tap water. Residents have to dig their own latrines. Acapulco's middle-class neighborhoods suffered heavy damage.
ERRI DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT-ERRI Risk Assessment Services-Monday, October 13, 1997, Vol. 3 - 286
ERRI MORNING NEWS SUMMARY
ACAPULCO, MEXICO (EmergencyNet News) - There are new concerns in the aftermath of Hurricane Pauline. Much of the city of Acapulco is without running water and people are drinking and bathing in muddy rivers that are contaminated both by trash and by human and animal remains. A doctor with Amber Cross -- a Mexican organization similar to the Red Cross -- said there's a serious risk of typhoid, salmonella and especially cholera in the areas affected by the hurricane. The official death toll of is at least 207 in the two states hit hardest by Pauline.
ERRI DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT-ERRI Risk Assessment Services-Wednesday, October 15, 1997 Vol. 3 - 288
MAGDALENA LOXICHA, MEXICO (EmergencyNet News) - Badly needed aid is beginning to trickle in to Hurricane Pauline victims in remote Indian villages along Mexico's Pacific coast. But bad weather has slowed down military helicopters bringing in supplies. Most roads and bridges in the region are impassable. Criticism has been leveled by the media and humanitarian observers that the mitigation and clean-up efforts are "inefficient" and not meeting the needs of the common people devastated by Hurricane Pauline. Especially needed to meet immediate needs, according to victims, is clean water and canned food.
The first reports have been recieved at the ERRI watch center of actual cases of cholera and other infectious diseases in the Acapulco area. Innoculations are reportedly being given to at least some people who are exposed to the flood waters and mud that has been contaminated by open sewage and human waste. Public health officials have expressed their concerns about the possibility of epidemics of any number of potentially deadly diseases.
(c) Copyright, EmergencyNet NEWS Service, 1997. All Rights Reserved. Redistribution without permission is prohibited by law.
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