"Really helps:" Travel agents stress importance of insurance when it comes to situations like Irma

ELM GROVE -- Hurricane Irma has made big changes to travel plans, and that has travel agents reminding people of the importance of travel insurance.

Travel agents were busy Wednesday, September 6th at Elm Grove Travel as Irma made landfall.

Elm Grove Travel

"It definitely affects our job. We pretty much can't plan the day," Jenny Cagle, VP of Elm Grove Travel said.

They were watching Irma closely, and the other two storms in the water -- Jose and Katia. Those storms became Category 1 hurricanes Wednesday.

"We are constantly watching all of the sites and talking to the vendors to see what you're going to do," Cagle said.

Cagle said agents were busy Wednesday helping families headed to Disney, as Irma could hit Florida this weekend.

Elm Grove Travel

Hurricane Irma

General Mitchell International Airport

"There's a lot of people who are scheduled to leave on trips in the next few days who are really watching closely to see if they're going to take the trip or change it," Cagle said.

At General Mitchell International Airport, there were some headed into the storm's path. Elease Phillips is a Milwaukee native living in Kissimmee, Florida.

"I'm headed back to Irma. My husband and my children, they've already started boarding up the house," Phillips said.

Others escaped Florida before Irma hit.

General Mitchell International Airport

"We were planning to come home anyway, so it just worked out that the storm was coincidentally happening the same time," Kennan Langjahr, in Milwaukee from Tampa said.

Cagle said spending some extra money can save your trip in situations like this.

Hurricane Irma

"We are huge advocates of travel insurance. That really helps if you are mid-trip and something like this comes up and you need to now buy a last-minute ticket home.The biggest thing is to make the decision about making the change sooner than later," Cagle said.