Hurricane Otis kills at least 27, hammers Acapulco as damage seen in billions

ACAPULCO, Mexico - Hurricane Otis claimed the lives of at least 27 people, Mexico's government said on Thursday after one of the most powerful storms to hit the country hammered the beach resort of Acapulco, causing damage seen running into billions of dollars.

According to Reuters, Otis, which struck Mexico on Wednesday as a Category 5 storm, flooded streets, ripped roofs off homes and hotels, submerged cars and cut communications, road and air access, leaving a trail of wreckage across Acapulco, a city of nearly 900,000.

Four people are still missing, the government said.

"What Acapulco suffered was really disastrous," President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told a press conference in Mexico City tallying the damage from the storm, which ripped into southern Mexico with winds of 165 miles per hour (266 kph).