ACAPULCO FEELS FURY OF PAULINE.

Byline: Mark Stevenson Associated Press

Hurricane Pauline hit Mexico's most famous tourist resort with devastating fury Thursday, unleashing deadly torrents that swept people, cars and boulders toward ravaged Pacific beaches before being downgraded to a tropical storm.

At least 118 people were killed in the states of Oaxaca and Guerrero. Twice that number were reported injured, and dozens were missing. Floods and mudslides were rampant, and damage was extensive.

All ports were closed from Tapachula, near the Guatemalan border, to Acapulco. Air traffic was suspended. Power was out along most of the coast, and telephone service was spotty.

The U.S. Hurricane Center in Miami said at 5 p.m. PDT that Pauline was centered about 30 miles north of Playa Azul, in Guerrero state, and moving northwest at 13 mph. Winds had dropped to 70 mph - below hurricane level of 74 mph.

But heavy flood warnings remained in effect.

Guerrero state secretary Humberto Salgado said 94 people died Thursday in Acapulco - most of them drowned by flash floods.

Authorities appealed for help for Acapulco, which the federal government declared a disaster area. The beach resort had run out of gasoline, drinking water, food, clothing, medicines and many more essentials.

``This is a very sad day,'' said Gov. Angel Aguirre of Guerrero state, home to Acapulco, where Pauline sent torrents of rainwater raging through streets. Aguirre said at least five other people were killed elsewhere in the state, adding, ``We don't recall a hurricane ever having caused such damage.''

In neighboring Oaxaca state, where Pauline first hit with 115-mph winds a day earlier, state government spokesman Leandro Hernandez confirmed 19 deaths, 15 people missing and thousands of homeless.

``The figure could still rise,'' said Hernandez, speaking with The Associated Press by telephone from the state, where powerful Pauline ripped makeshift homes away and badly damaged such resorts as Puerto Angel.

Fueled by the warm El Nino ocean currents, Pauline powered towering waves - 30 feet tall on exposed coasts - that pounded Acapulco's pristine beaches into a maelstrom of trash and twisted lounge chairs.

Heavy rains turned streets into roaring rivers of debris. Water swept boulders the size of cars down the hills and flipped vehicles like toys, catching some with lights still on, their doors underwater. A coastal highway skirting the famed beaches teemed with raging water, and one man's body stuck from the mud, arms outstretched and mouth agape.

``If Pauline survives, it could become a potential threat to the Gulf of California and adjacent areas within the next day or two,'' said hurricane center forecaster Max Mayfield.

President Ernesto Zedillo, on a state visit to Germany, ordered army troops into stricken areas along a long stretch of coast. Troops in Humvees poured into Acapulco by the hundreds to secure areas around homes wrecked by raging floods.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, map

PHOTO (1 -- color) A woman walks past storm debris on an Acapulco street Thursday after Hurricane Pauline blasted the famed resort city.

(2) People form a human chain while clutching a few possessions as they cross a flooded road in Acapulco.

Associated Press

MAP: Hurricane Pauline aims at Mexican resorts