Rivers of mud and rocks roared downhill before dawn Thursday, burying everything in their path. The death toll was expected to rise as rescue workers pulled more bodies out of the thick mud. The trued death toll may never be known because people were pulling out dead family members and burying them without notifying anyone. The Acapulco mayor's office said that the official death toll is partial and incomplete. There is a little electricity and no tap water.
Residents have to dig their own latrines.
Acapulco's middle-class neighborhoods suffered heavy damage. There are new concerns in the aftermath of Hurricane Pauline. Much of the city of Acapulco is without running water and people are drinking and bathing in muddy rivers that are contaminated both by trash and by human and animal remains. The official death toll of is at least 207 in the two states hit hardest by Pauline. Badly needed aid is beginning to trickle in to Hurricane Pauline victims in remote Indian villages along Mexico's Pacific coast.