Since a strong hurricane struck the area, there has been rampant looting in the Mexican vacation city of Acapulco, where over 17,000 military and police have been stationed.
Videos show people stealing water and food from stores, while others leave shopping malls with pricey electronics and clothing.
At this point, the official death toll from Hurricane Otis is thirty-nine.
Thousands upon thousands of people still lack access to water and electricity.
On Wednesday, Otis touched down on the Pacific coast with winds as high as 165 mph (266 km/h). In just 12 hours, it had strengthened from a tropical storm to a category five hurricane, the strongest kind.
One of the worst-hit regions in Mexico was Acapulco, where streets flooded and 80% of the resort’s hotels were damaged.
According to the administration, there were 39 deaths on Saturday—10 women and 29 men—while at least 10 others are still unaccounted for.
Social media users have posted videos of looting in severely damaged communities as food and water supplies become more scarce.
It is only now that the primary road that connects Acapulco to the rest of the nation has reopened that supplies of necessities can reach the city.
Residents in the Renacimiento community are furious over the lack of assistance.
Apolonio Maldonado lifted his feet out of the water to reveal significant red slashes on his shins and told the Reuters news agency, “The government hasn’t given us any help, not even hope.”
“They haven’t left any food, or even mattresses or cots.”
While he has pledged to assist in the city’s reconstruction, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has charged that his opponents are fabricating evidence of the scope of the looting in order to cast doubt on his administration ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
In a video that was posted to social media, he declared, “They circle like vultures; they don’t care about people’s pain, they want to hurt us, for there to have been many deaths.”
Otis, which caused damage estimated at billions of dollars, is regarded by officials as the most potent storm to ever strike Mexico’s Pacific coast.