Hurricane Otis caused 27 confirmed deaths and left 4 missing, Mexican authorities report

 Mexican authorities gave the first human toll for Hurricane Otis’ destruction along the country’s Pacific coast Thursday: at least 27 dead and four missing.

Tens of thousands of residents in damaged homes without electricity awaited help more than a day after Otis roared ashore in Acapulco.

Federal Security Secretary Rosa Icela Rodríguez said there were 27 confirmed deaths and four disappearances. Rodríguez’s comments at President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s morning news briefing were echoed minutes later by Guerrero state Gov. Evelyn Salgado.

“We regret the 27 dead,” López Obrador said. The president said Wednesday night he had been told the toll was 18, but it rose early Thursday. “That’s what hurts the most,” he said of the deaths, noting material losses could be replaced.

López Obrador shared details of only one death: He said one soldier was among the dead after a wall of his home collapsed on him.

The early images and accounts were of extensive devastation, toppled trees and power lines lying in brown floodwaters that in some areas extended for miles. The resulting destruction delayed a comprehensive response by the government, which was still assessing the damage along the coast, and made residents desperate.