Hurricane Otis: 5 reasons why it is extremely dangerous

Homes have been destroyed, communication network crippled, amid strong winds reaching speeds of 165 miles per hour as a result of the hurricane.

Hurricane Otis has made landfall in Mexico's Acapulco. The category 5 storm has caused massive destruction leading to floods in populated areas. Homes have been destroyed, communication network crippled, amid strong winds reaching speeds of 165 miles per hour as a result of the storm. The storm has caused landslides on highways, causing populated areas to be cut off from important towns and cities.

Satellite imagery provided by GOES-18 satellite shows Otis strengthening from a tropical storm into a major hurricane. Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere at Colorado State University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (CSU/CIRA & NOAA)/Handout via REUTERS (via REUTERS)

Here are five reasons why Hurricane Otis caused so much destruction of catastrophic proportions.

• With very little warning to the residents, Otis struck Acapulco as one of the strongest hurricanes ever to hit the region. It is the first category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the East Pacific. In a 12-hour time frame, it rapidly intensified to break all records.“This is the strongest hurricane ever to make landfall in Mexico on record, though formal records for the eastern Pacific only extend back to around 1950,” said Ryan Truchelut of commercial forecaster WeatherTiger LLC.
• Acapulco where Otis made landfall is home to nearly one million people. The coastal city is a major tourist destination and has been wrecked badly by this severe storm.
• Otis got fuelled by warm waters in the Pacific and experts have put the blame on climate change and global warming for its severity.
• "There are no hurricanes on record even close to this intensity for this part of Mexico," informed the National Hurricane Center. Experts were caught unaware as Otis rapidly intensified into a monster.
• Unlike previous storms and hurricanes, Otis made landfall in a major urban region which has caused catastrophic destruction. “The hurricane hit very hard, very hard in Guerrero in the Big Coast throughout the stretch from Tecpan to Acapulco. Communications have been completely lost,” said Mexico's president.