Hurricane Otis: Guerrero schools are closed as Mexico waits for a Category 5 hurricane that is exceedingly deadly

 Hurricane Otis: Guerrero schools are closed as Mexico waits for a Category 5 hurricane that is exceedingly deadly

On Tuesday, Hurricane Otis was headed straight for the well-known beach resort of Acapulco and was on track to make landfall as a "extremely dangerous" Category 5 hurricane on Mexico's Pacific coast.

On Wednesday morning, Otis was predicted to make landfall with strong gusts and torrential rain. The US National storm Center said that as of late on Tuesday afternoon, it was already a Category 4 storm with top sustained winds of 145 mph (233 kph).

Otis was around 85 miles south-southeast of Acapulco by 6:00 p.m. local time (0000 GMT on Wednesday), and the Miami-based NHC said that it will continue to intensify before reaching landfall.

It should quickly deteriorate once Otis touches land, it claimed.

The region of Guerrero state between the coastal towns of Zihuatanejo and Punta Maldonado, where Acapulco is located, was predicted to see hurricane conditions within 12 to 24 hours, according to the NHC.

The storm may produce up to 15 inches (38 cm) of rain in certain areas of Guerrero and the adjacent state of Oaxaca, as well as "life-threatening" storm surges, surf and rip current conditions, flash floods, and mudslides.

Governor Evelyn Salgado announced on social media that Wednesday schools had been canceled across Guerrero in anticipation of Otis' arrival.

At least three people died when Hurricane Norma moved over the northwest coast of Mexico over the weekend. Days before, the deadly Hurricane Lidia pounded Mexico's Pacific coast, leaving one person dead and several more wounded.