Cat. 5 Hurricane Otis Hits Mexico's Acapulco, Weakens

Hurricane Otis plowed into the Mexican beach resort of Acapulco as a Category 5 storm early on Wednesday, battering hotels and sending tourists running for cover as it pummeled the southern Pacific coast with torrential rain and fierce winds.

Videos posted on social media showed rooms wrecked by the passing of the hurricane, ceilings and walls rent open and cars partly submerged in floodwaters as the southern state of Guerrero awoke to the disarray left in Otis' wake.

Footage from one hospital on social media showed nurses evacuating patients from their rooms to keep them safe from Otis, which strengthened unexpectedly fast at sea and barreled into the coast with winds of 165 miles per hour.

One of the strongest hurricanes ever to hit the region, Otis reached the shore at a Category 5 strength before quickly weakening to a Category 4 storm. Its power slackened further as it moved inland and it was a Category 1 by midmorning.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said there were no immediate reports of fatalities from the storm, but cautioned that authorities were struggling to get updates.

"The hurricane is still affecting the area and communications are completely down," he told reporters at a regular government press conference.

Otis remains over the state of Guerrero and will continue to generate heavy rains in much of the region, Mexico's national water agency CONAGUA said in a statement.

Mexico's civil protection authorities reported power outages throughout Guerrero, while flights to and from Acapulco were suspended and classes canceled due to Otis, which shook hotels, forcing tourists into refuges.

At around 9 a.m. local time, Otis was 100 miles north-northwest of Acapulco, packing winds of 80 miles per hour, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

However, it was still packing winds of 110 miles per hour, bringing heavy rainfall and flash flooding with hurricane-force winds into wide swaths of southern Mexico.

Otis could bring up to 20 inches of rain to parts of Guerrero and Oaxaca states, mudslides, a "potentially catastrophic" storm surge, and life-threatening surf and rip current conditions, authorities said.

CONAGUA warned of 6- to 8-meter surf off Guerrero and parts of Oaxaca.

In Guerrero, authorities opened storm shelters, and the National Guard was ready for rescues and evacuations.

The Defense Ministry enacted a disaster plan ahead of the storm's arrival, Lopez Obrador said late on Tuesday, as soldiers patrolled Acapulco's emptying beaches.