Around 17,000 military and law enforcement personnel have been dispatched to the Mexican tourist destination of Acapulco, where extensive looting has occurred following the devastating impact of a powerful hurricane.

Video footage depicts individuals taking essential items like food and water from stores, alongside others making off with costly electronic devices and clothing from shopping centers.

The death toll from Hurricane Otis has climbed to 39, and hundreds of thousands of residents are still grappling with the loss of power and access to clean water.

Otis reached the Pacific coast on Wednesday, packing winds of up to 165mph (266 km/h) after swiftly intensifying from a tropical storm into a category five hurricane, the most severe classification, in 12 hours.

Acapulco bore the brunt of the storm's fury in Mexico, with 80% of the city's hotels sustaining damage and streets submerged in floodwaters.

The government reported the death toll on Saturday, comprising 29 men and 10 women, with at least 10 individuals still unaccounted for.

Videos have been uploaded to social media showing looting in hard-hit neighborhoods as food and water supplies run increasingly low.

The main road linking Acapulco to the rest of the country has only now been reopened, allowing the delivery of essential goods to the city.

In the Renacimiento neighborhood, residents have been angered by the lack of aid.

"The government hasn't given us any help, not even hope," Apolonio Maldonado told Reuters news agency, lifting his feet from the water to show deep red cuts on his shins.

"They haven't left any food, or even mattresses or cots."

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has promised to help rebuild the city but has accused his political rivals of exaggerating the extent of the looting to discredit his government before next year's presidential election.

"They circle like vultures, they don't care about people's pain, they want to hurt us, for there to have been lots of deaths," he said in a video uploaded to social media.

Officials say Otis was the most powerful storm ever to hit Mexico's Pacific coast, leaving a trail of devastation estimated at billions of dollars.

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