Hurricane Otis, one of the strongest storms ever to hit Mexico's Pacific Coast, roared into the beach resort of Acapulco early Wednesday, smashing buildings and vital infrastructure and leaving the city incommunicado and without power.
Footage on social media showed hotels wrecked by Otis, ceilings and walls ripped open, windows shattered and cars partly submerged in floodwaters as the rare Category 5 storm barreled ashore in the southern state of Guerrero.
Debris was strewn around lobbies, patios, streets and hotel balconies, and remnants of mangled trees littered downtown Acapulco. Downed telecommunication lines and damage to infrastructure left residents cut off from the outside world.