"We boarded up:" Irma on the mind of those flying between Florida and Milwaukee

Elease Phillips

MILWAUKEE -- Officials in Florida Wednesday, September 6th urged people to use extreme caution -- and said if they're going to leave the state with Hurricane Irma bearing down, they should "get out now."

FOX6 News caught up with Elease Phillips at Mitchell International Airport -- a native Milwaukeean who now lives in Kissimmee (just south of Orlando). She was headed there on Wednesday afternoon.

"My husband and my children, they've already started boarding up the house," Phillips said. "They went and got water before they ran out. They gassed up everything. The gas cans are full."

Paulette Barger is a Racine native now living in Clearwater (near Tampa). She flew into Milwaukee Wednesday.

Paulette Barger

"I've had it planned for a while, but when the hurricane came up, I thought maybe I should stay -- but my husband said no, he's pretty sure it's going to go the other way. He can take care of everything," Barger said.

Despite her husband's assurances, Barger said she was nervous -- and hoped she would have a home to go back to.

Lindsay and Kennan Langjahr were feeling the same way -- after deciding to keep their travel plans and leave Tampa.

Lindsay and Kennan Langjahr

"We boarded up. Well, kind of boarded up. We prepared little boxes. We boxed up all of our valuables and left them. We live in a town house. We're three stories up," the couple indicated.

The Langjahrs said grocery stores in Florida ran out of water -- and they said they were glad to be away.

On the flipside, Phillips said she's okay with going back to the Orlando area. She has a daughter in Miami -- and a plan to evacuate.

"If they mandatory Miami within the next 24-48 hours, she's coming up to Kissimmee, and then if we get mandatoried out of Orlando-Kissimmee, we're hitting the road for Atlanta because I have another daughter in Atlanta," Phillips said.

Phillips also said she has insurance -- including flood insurance.