Death toll from Hurricane Otis in Mexico rises to 52
Mexico: The death toll from Hurricane Otis that hit Mexican state of Guerrero in October has reached 52 people, while another 32 people have gone missing, Guerrero Governor Evelyn Salgado said on Thursday.
In November, the government of Guerrero said that the Otis hurricane left 46 people dead and 58 missing.
“According to the latest data provided by the Prosecutor General’s Office, we are talking about the death of 52 people … Massive efforts are being made to find 32 missing people,” Salgado told a press conference.
In late October, Hurricane Otis, which originated in the Pacific, swept across Mexico, killing dozens of people and inflicting serious damage to homes and critical infrastructure.
In November, the Mexican government presented a 61.3 billion peso ($3.4 billion) recovery plan for the municipalities of Acapulco and Coyuca de Benitez hit by Otis, Mexican Finance Minister Rogelio Ramirez de la O said.
The government’s first priority, according to the action plan, is to support the families of the victims and search for the missing. To support the most vulnerable residents of Guerrero, the Mexican authorities were to pay them two months of welfare benefits, extend their payments under social security programs for six months and hire at least 10,000 young people for cleaning works. The number of scholarships for students in the region were to be doubled to 90,000.
Late in November, the European Commission announced its plan to allocate 1.3 million euros ($1.4 million) to help the Mexican authorities address the most urgent needs of the population affected by the hurricane.