The author of this article, Hannah Cotts, called it to my attention: see Superstorm Insurance. Some excerpts follow:

At a total cost of $65 billion in damages, Superstorm Sandy was the second-costliest hurricane in United States history, behind Hurricane Katrina’s $108 billion in damages. Of that, an estimated $25 billion is insured, meaning storm victims without coverage are on the hook for a collective $40 billion from wind, flood, and fire damage.The insureds, on the other hand, have not had an easy road either, by any means.

Many insurers have found pricey loopholes that policyholders have to jump through before seeing a dime of payout. Even those that are insured often find out their coverage is not enough to completely restore their quality of life. What if both groups had the option — or were required — to purchase an all-encompassing suite of coverage for just this type of storm, a.k.a superstorm insurance?

While I am on the topic of insurance I want to share a very well-researched paper I turned up accidentally today in my personal library. It is titled Residential Insurance on the U.S. Gulf Coast in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina; A Framework for Evaluating Potential Reforms; it was issued by the RAND Corp. as an Occasional Paper, in 2010. I am no expert on flood insurance, but I am willing to wager that many of the recommendations in the paper are still needed today, almost 3 years later.