Residents complain of rashes and stomach ailments as 666,000 tons of garbage overwhelm the city. Uncollected waste after natural disasters can lead to illnesses, experts said.Below the shattered windows of the high-rise hotels in downtown Acapulco, people walk alongside towering hills of garbage bags filled with rotting food and debris, from mattresses to Christmas decorations. Volunteer firefighters from distant states clear the waste, wiping away swarms of cockroaches from their arms.Miles from the coastal beachside resorts, Elizabeth Del Valle, 43, listened as her teenage daughter Constanza Sotelo, described the “mountains of trash” still blocking many streets surrounding their home.“We have no way to find face masks to keep ourselves healthy,” said Ms. Del Valle. “We expect that we’re going to get an infection from the smell, from the garbage.”Weeks after Hurricane Otis shocked forecasters and government officials by intensifying rapidly into the strongest storm to hit Mexico’s Pacific Coast and devastate much of Acapulco, residents say they now face an unfolding public health disaster.Many locals, public health officials and emergency responders say they believe that the uncollected garbage is linked to stomach infections, diarrhea and skin rashes and other ailments that people have complained about since the storm.Local business groups this past week called on federal and state officials to declare a sanitary emergency citing “the accumulation of garbage, construction material, lack of potable water and the presence of insects and harmful fauna,” including human remains.As thousands of troops descended on Acapulco after Otis made landfall, authorities first prioritized clearing debris and restoring power to the tourist resort areas, according to city officials, local business leaders and residents. Some hotels in that area have since reopened.But people who live outside the city’s beachfront tourist neighborhoods say they must navigate so many piles of trash and debris that in some places it is hard to reach hospitals and health centers.A crew removing debris from an Acapulco street. Many people who live outside the city’s beachfront tourist destinations say they must navigate a proliferation of piles of garbage.David Guzman/EPA, via ShutterstockEven as the authorities respond to Acapulco’s many needs — providing water to residents, restoring power and finding missing people — federal and local officials are sounding alarms over the hurricane’s longer-term health consequences and say that clearing trash needs to be priority.The city’s mayor estimates that 666,000 tons of garbage are piled across Acapulco. Under normal conditions, local officials said, 700 to 800 tons of waste are picked up every day.