People without coverage but lots of damage from the storm surge might do one of a couple of things. A few stubborn ones will sue, arguing that if the wind drove the surge then it’s not really a flood. Judges haven’t taken kindly to this line of reasoning over the years, but that probably won’t keep people from trying again. The Federal Emergency Management Agency may also offer some assistance.

Others may try to prove that wind damage, which is generally covered, was responsible for the loss. “Let’s say the house is gone completely,” said Leslie L. Knox, a public adjuster in Toms River, N.J. “Was it blown off the foundation? How significantly was it damaged prior to the flooding event?” Often, no one can say for sure, since everyone evacuated.

If the house is not a total loss, you may look for other clues. “We’ll find upper-level structural twisting, and the insurance company will say that it’s from a flood,” said Mark Boardman, a public adjuster in Maitland, Fla. “But then we’ll find that upstairs is twisted but not the ground.”

Then, there’s the concurrent causation clause that has crept into policies in recent years. Here, insurance companies refuse to cover anything if one thing that causes damage (like wind) is insured but another (like a flood) is not and both seem to have happened at the same time. “I’m sure this will be litigated again, but we won’t know that for three or four more weeks,” said Mr. Hunter of the Consumer Federation of America.

REPLACE AND REPAIR After most storms of this size, prices rise. There may be a shortage of building materials, for instance, or the higher-quality materials may get more expensive. After two hurricanes in Florida, contractors turned to Chinese drywall several years ago, which ended up making people sick.

Your policy may call on your insurance company to pay for materials equivalent to what you need to replace, or it may merely require similar ones. But make sure its estimates reflect the new market price, lest you end up settling for what turns out to be this storm’s Chinese drywall, whether it’s bad lumber, paint, cement or something else.