Hurricane Otis, which wreaked havoc on the tourist port of Acapulco in southwestern Mexico, has killed 43 people and 36 others are still missing, according to the latest toll released by authorities on Sunday.

This is still a “preliminary” assessment, pointed out Evelyn Salgado, the governor of the state of Guerrero, to which the affected spa town is administered, during a video conference with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

The previous official count was 39 dead, most of them from drowning.

The head of state for his part announced that he would go to Acapulco within the day.

The death toll is slow after the category 5 hurricane, the highest on the five-point Saffir-Simpson scale, hit, disrupting telecommunications and power networks. Their rehabilitation continued over the weekend.

“We are proceeding with the effective distribution of humanitarian aid,” assured Mrs. Salgado via X (the former Twitter).

Humanitarian aid from the government and private agencies began to be distributed on Friday at noon, after the airport opened.

Hurricane Otis caused massive damage Wednesday in Acapulco, a city of about 780,000 people.

Moreover, shops and supermarkets were looted before help could arrive. Some 17,000 members of the security forces were deployed in the city to guarantee security.

At least 10,000 homes and several hotels were severely damaged in Acapulco, one of Latin America’s most popular tourist destinations, according to federal government figures.