Hurricane Otis Devastated Acapulco but Left Lessons to Heed

Hurricane Otis transformed from a tropical storm into a Category 5 hurricane last month, the most powerful hurricane to make landfall in Mexico’s history, killing dozens while knocking out communications and devastating Acapulco before it died out.

Otis left in its aftermath a chaotic scene but also some lessons to take away for residents both in areas where hurricanes are common and also where they are not.

One lesson is that times have changed. Like the wildfire season, which used to be four months but is now considered a six- to eight-month season, hurricanes can strike well after August and September, making it crucial that emergency managers stay prepared after the normal season.

Emergency Management spoke to Josh Dozor, former Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) deputy assistant administrator and current general manager of Medical and Security Assistance at International SOS about lessons from Otis.

“Increasingly, in recent years we’ve been seeing storms take place outside of the normal geographic and temporal patterns,” Dozor said. “It’s interesting, because of changes in climate and ocean temperature, [seasons] have expanded, so from an emergency management and planning perspective, we should all broaden our expectations as to what’s possible, where and when,” he said.

That means being ready to evacuate residents and ensuring that they know when and why they need to evacuate and where to go.

In the case of Otis, notice to evacuate was late as conditions turned rapidly from a tropical storm to a hurricane. For best practices, evacuation orders must take into consideration how long it will take to evacuate and the time it will take for the storm to hit.

“You add the time for the tropical storm force winds to arrive plus the time it would take to evacuate safely,” Dozor said. “If it takes you 12 hours to evacuate and tropical storm force winds will arrive shortly, you shelter in place.”

Residents should know that when evacuations are ordered it means the local first responders will probably not be able to reach anybody who decided to disregard an order and stay through the storm if they suddenly decide they need help.

“When a local authority issues an evacuation notice, they don’t take it lightly,” Dozor said. “They’re telling people to evacuate because they know they’ll have a very limited ability to respond and that’s one of the primary reasons they issue the evacuation.”

“They’re not required to respond in a severely high-risk area where first responders could be casualties themselves or they would have a low likelihood of getting people out safely. So, if people decide to ignore those evacuation notices, it’s in their hands.”

Otis struck Acapulco and severely affected travelers. If you are traveling to a location prone to natural disasters, it’s good to have a Plan B and Plan C for getting out of the area, according to Paul Doucet, regional director of security intelligence and assistance for International SOS.

“This was a particular problem with Hurricane Otis in Acapulco because the hurricane destroyed the airport,” he said. And the nearest airports are quite a distance away, dangerous to get to with limited flights out. The choppy waters created by the hurricane also made maritime travel difficult. “So, say you’re planning a conference, you should have a solid understanding of what Plan B and C are, and if there is only one good airport, getting out of there is greatly complicated,” Doucet said.