
Residents of Acapulco continued without electricity and water on Thursday after Hurricane Otis downed some 50 power poles late Tuesday and early Wednesday. The main highway between Acapulco and Mexico City reopened, and some cell services were reestablished. TV news showed desperate residents looting stores and searching through rubble to find food and supplies in the absence of government aid.
The defense ministry said 8,400 members of Mexico’s army, air force, and national guard were in the region working on cleanup. And CFE, the electrical utility, said it had 13 hundred employees working to restore power.
As of last night, officials said 27 people are dead and 4 are missing, but that number is expected to go much higher as the true toll of the massive hurricane becomes clearer in the coming days. No word yet on the official estimated cost of the material damage.
Erik Lozoya, who was staying in an eighth-floor hotel room with his wife and two baby daughters, described the ordeal to Reuters as “three hours of terror” in which it felt like his ears were going to explode. The winds smashed through the windows, the ceiling began to cave in, and there were mattresses and water tanks flying through the air.
Reporter Ricardo Castillo of the Quadratín Guerrero news service described the impact of the Category-5 hurricane as being “like an earthquake that went on for two hours” and said he thought that no home was left undamaged by the storm, which was the worst to hit Mexico’s Pacific Coast in recorded history. He also described seeing a corpse lying in the street.
Deutsche Welle TV reported that 80 percent of the city’s hotels were damaged, and the airport was closed.
Reuters said the airport was expected to reopen today, and cited a research firm that evaluates the damage caused by tropical storms as estimating the damage to Acapulco to be at least 15 billion U.S. dollars.
Support for Oaxaca Newscast comes from Galería Fango Barro Negro, a gallery owned by the family of Simón Pacheco featuring black pottery made by three generations of ceramicists, Galería Fango Barro Negro is located at Calle Reforma number 3 in San Bartolo Coyotepec. Open Monday thru Friday from 10am to 7pm, Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 7:30pm.
According to the latest federal health data released this week, suspected cases of dengue are nearly 4.5 times what they were in the state last year. Last year in the state of Oaxaca there were 3,755 suspected cases of dengue in 2022. As of this week, Oaxaca has tallied 16,673 suspected cases so far this year. It’s not clear whether that number only includes cases suspected of patients who go to public health clinics or also includes patients of doctors in private practice.
People often think of Oaxaca as the state where the tradition of making “alebrijes” orignated, but in fact the word “alebrijes” was first used to describe paper-maché creations made by Pedro Linares in Mexico City. What are made here in Oaxaca are fantastical animals carved from copal wood and painted.
Here’s a Oaxaca trivia quiz for you: In what town here in Oaxaca did that tradition originate?
If you said “San Martín Tilcajete,” I’m sorry — you’re wrong!
The tradition started in Arrazola, where Manuel Jimenez pioneered the form. Inspired by his success, other men in Arrazola, who mostly worked as campesinos or did odd jobs to support their families, also taught themselves how to carve the animal figures. Each man worked alone, in his house, carving animals based on their own imagination — and sometimes photos they’d seen in books or magazines. Families began to specialize in certain animals and shapes, with the men carving and the women painting.
The men carve the wood using machetes and knives. If you’ve ever watched this process, you’ll know they make it look as easy as carving a bar of soap, but it’s really hard work!
Starting tomorrow (Saturday, October 28th) the artisan families of Arrazola will be getting together to host a special exhibition and sale. It’ll be open from 10am to 6pm each day until November 4th and will be located right at the entrance to the town. Don’t miss it!
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