A Florida woman has described the panic that set in after she realized her dog had gone missing during Hurricane Milton.

Taylor Downs lives in Central Florida with her husband, whom she met attending college there. It is a long way from Colorado, where she is originally from, but home is never far away from her thoughts, thanks, in part, to their pup.

"Our dog is named Denver because I grew up there," Downs told Newsweek. "I always tell people now that we live in Florida that our dog Denver is my home away from home. Denver will be 2 years old in November."

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Denver has been a part of their lives since February 2023. "He is a wheaten terrier with a very fun and loving personality," Downs said. "Denver loves people; he loves to play with other dogs; he loves adventuring outdoors; and he loves pup cups from Starbucks!"

That "adventuring" spirit came close to landing Denver in some serious trouble when Hurricane Milton hit the region last week while Downs and her husband were waiting out the storm at home.

"My husband works in commercial roofing as well, and he needed to be available directly after the hurricane passed to help hospitals and commercial buildings restore their roof after the storm," Downs said.

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Florida was badly hit by Hurricane Milton, with footage of one Florida home ravaged by water and storm damage sparking stunned reactions on TikTok.

Downs said their home was "in direct line with the eye of the hurricane." Though they experienced power outages late last Wednesday evening as the hurricane passed over them, things appeared to be going well, though they were conscious that, at some point, Denver would need to go outside for a comfort break.

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"Our dog is extremely fearless and not afraid of storms, so we weren't worried about needing to let him out if he needed to go," Downs said.

At around 12:30 a.m., when Downs said the "eye of the storm was above us," it became clear that Denver needed to go to the bathroom.

Downs said her husband had looked out at the backyard to check it was safe for Denver to go out but, understandably in these difficult conditions, had failed to spot something important.

"He did not see that a tree had fallen and knocked part of our fence out," Downs said. When he went to call for Denver at the backyard, he noticed the hole and quickly realized their dog had escaped.

From the moment Downs heard her partner calling Denver's name, she said she "could tell that something was wrong." She added: "We both grabbed flashlights and ran around the neighborhood yelling for Denver."

The stress and chaos of the situation facing them cannot be underplayed. "Because the power was out, it was difficult to see. There were power lines down and fallen trees all around us," Downs said.

"We knew that we were in the eye of the storm and that, very soon, the hurricane winds and rain would be back. We didn't have much time."

Downs ended up calling a friend and her mom, asking that they start praying for Denver. "I knew that, if we didn't find him by the time the winds and rain came back, we may lose him for forever," she said.

Soon, their neighbors, hearing their shouts, came out of their houses to help look, with as many as 10 people conducting the search. Downs, meanwhile, was trying her best not to panic.

"Although I was very scared, I tried to stay calm because I knew that panicking would only make things worse," she said. Eventually, after around 40 minutes of frantic searching, they spotted Denver running along several blocks from their house.

"When we got to him, we called him excitedly, and he came running up to us. I've never felt so relieved," Downs said. "We took him home and, after we got inside, the storm winds and rain started again. It felt like a miracle we found him just in time."

Besides the hole in their fence, no power for three days and a significant amount of debris in their front yard, Downs said that the family came through the hurricane relatively unscathed. It could have been significantly worse, though.

"We are very thankful that we found our puppy," Downs said. "We won't be letting him out in a hurricane without a leash again."