 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.
