At least 118 people died along hundreds of miles of coast pummeled by Pauline's 100-mph winds - many of those deaths in badly battered Acapulco, a glittering resort of 2.9 million people that dawned a disaster zone.
"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 struck with 115-mph winds a day earlier, state government spokesperson Leandro Hernandez confirmed 14 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.
The only way for democracies to "survive and thrive," she said, is to give women more power "to seek and claim their rights as citizens and as human beings."
Speaking at a conference of Latin American first ladies, Mrs. Clinton suggested the challenge could be more difficult than the giant undertaking of building the Panama Canal, whose Pacific entrance was just blocks away.
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