 The exact death toll was unknown , but believed to be several hundred . About two days after the storm , the official death toll was more than 80 . By three days after the storm , the toll rose to 190 , and by four days after it made landfall , the official total was 290 deaths ; officials estimated the toll could have exceeded 500 . Due to downed communications , reports of storm fatalities were slow to spread , though news became more rapid as links were repaired . On November 19 , a week after the storm struck , the Mexican Army set the final death toll at 436 deaths , with 300 missing ; the death toll was later reported by the United States Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance in 1993 . Overall , Hurricane Tara was the deadliest disaster in 1961 , as well as the third deadliest Mexico Pacific hurricane on record , after a hurricane in 1959 and Hurricane Liza in 1976 . 
