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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Nina Lakhani, climate justice reporter, in Acapulco, Mexico

How hurricanes Otis and John exposed Acapulco’s big divide and left residents ‘scared for our lives’

An aerial view of a broken road bridge over a river. Many people are standing and walking on the road and on the ground beneath
A broken bridge near Acapulco. Much of the reconstruction planned after Hurricane John last year has yet to begin. Photograph: Francisco Robles/AFP/Getty

Flora Montejo always dreamed of buying her own home. After almost three decades working as a nurse, the 68-year-old invested her retirement savings in a two-storey house in San Agustín, a working-class suburb of the Mexican resort town of Acapulco.

Montejo’s retirement dream was shortlived. Not long after moving into her newly remodelled home, Hurricane John dumped record levels of rainfall on Acapulco, triggering landslides and flash floods after calm creeks turned into roaring rivers.

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