During the first day of the hurricane's onslaught, the region experienced winds of up to and unrelenting rainfall. The first reports of damage from the Honduran government via radio stated that 14 people had been killed while over 100 were missing. In just 24 hours, 182 towns and villages were completely destroyed. According to the Red Cross, between 800 and 1,200 people died within 12 hours of Fifi's landfall in Honduras. Buses driving through mountain passes skidded off the sides of cliffs due to slick roads, killing numerous people. Flash floods destroyed thousands of homes and isolated numerous towns. Waves, reaching in height, destroyed moorings and grounded numerous ships.