Milton spawned record-setting 129 tornado warnings with twisters responsible for at least half of reported deaths

Hurricane Milton created a record-setting 129 tornado warnings, with the ensuing twisters responsible for most of the storm’s severe damage and more than half of its 10 confirmed deaths.At least 27 of those warnings are confirmed to have resulted in tornadoes, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said Thursday — but that count is expected to rise as specialists assess the damage left behind by the Category 3 storm in the coming days.In St.Lucie County alone — north of West Palm Beach on Florida’s Atlantic coast — at least 17 tornadoes were confirmed, according to Sheriff Keith Pearson, who told Fox Weather there were “hundreds of homes destroyed.”Just one of those could be responsible for six deaths after it ripped through the Spanish Lakes Country Club retirement community in Fort Pierce.

“St.Lucie had the most tornado damage of anyone I’ve seen,” Gov.

Ron DeSantis told reporters Wednesday as the death count in the village continued to climb, WPTV reported.Images from the storm’s aftermath showed severe wind damage characteristic of tornadoes — including cars tossed and in one case, an entire dumpster dropped through a home’s roof.It remains unclear exactly how many of the tornado warnings — which mean a tornado is either active or almost inevitable — amounted to actual touchdowns, but Fox Weather meteorologists told The Post the final number will likely be uncommonly high, and that the storms were unusually strong.“The main thing that differentiates yesterday from a typical hurricane is going to be the strength of these tornadoes,” Fox Weather said, noting that their full ratings had not been reported yet “but just visually alone, these were strong tornadoes.”Many were caused by dry air south of Milton’s northeasterly path across the center of the Sunshine State, which allowed several severe thunderstorms south of the cell to continue churning — and then were amplified by Milton’s approaching winds.But t...