Hurricane Irene will most likely prove to be one of the 10 costliest catastrophes in the nation's history, but analysts warned that much of the damage might not be covered by insurance because so much of it was caused not by winds but by flooding, which is excluded from many standard policies.

Industry estimates put the cost of the storm at $7 billion to $10 billion, largely because the hurricane pummeled an unusually wide area of the East Coast.

Beyond deadly flooding that caused havoc in upstate New York and in Vermont, the hurricane flooded cotton and tobacco crops in North Carolina, temporarily halted shellfish harvesting in Chesapeake Bay, sapped power and kept commuters from their jobs in the New York metropolitan area and pushed tourists off Atlantic beaches in the peak of summer.

While insurers have typically covered about half of the total losses in past storms, they might end up covering less than 40 percent of the costs associated with Hurricane Irene, according to an analysis by Kinetic Analysis.

That is partly because so much damage was caused by flooding and it is unclear how many damaged homes have flood insurance, and partly because deductibles have risen steeply in coastal areas in recent years, requiring some homeowners to cover $4,000 worth of damages or more before insurers pick up the loss.

This could make it harder for many stricken homeowners to rebuild and could dampen any short-term boost to the construction industry that typically accompanies major storms, said Jan Vermeiren, the chief executive of Kinetic Analysis.

"Especially now that the economy is tight, and people don't have money sitting around, local governments are broke, and maybe people can't even get loans from the banks," Vermeiren said.

The governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut on Tuesday sought expedited disaster declarations from the federal government, which would pave the way for more federal aid. Flooding and widespread power failures tied to the storm continued to affect tens of thousands of people.

"I think this is going to end up being a bigger event than people think it is," said Connecticut Gov. Daniel Malloy. Officials in states up and down the Eastern seaboard said that it was far too early to tally up the damage, and that they were still focused on clearing debris, restoring power, trying to reopen flooded roads and bridges, and, in some areas, helping stranded people.

In southern Vermont, the National Guard airlifted food, water and other supplies Tuesday to hundreds of people who were stranded in 13 towns that have been cut off by floodwater since Sunday.

Mark Bosma, a spokesman for the Vermont Office of Emergency Management, said most of the isolated towns had no electricity and none had potable water because floodwaters had overwhelmed local sewage- and water-treatment plants.

More than 260 roads and 30 state bridges remained at least partly closed Tuesday because of the flooding, which in some areas remains a threat as larger rivers, such as the Connecticut, are expected to continue rising until at least Wednesday as they gather runoff and flow from tributaries, officials said.

In Mendon, a part of Interstate 4 was swept away, as were 35 bridges, including at least four historic covered bridges, officials said.

Four railroad bridges in the state are also impassable, and Amtrak has announced that it has suspended train service indefinitely on its Vermont routes.

In Delaware, where such popular beaches as Rehoboth Beach were evacuated last weekend, shutting restaurants and emptying hotels, Gov. Jack Markell is urging people to come back for the Labor Day weekend — and to bring friends.

Exactly how much economic activity was lost to the storm is difficult to say. Airports were closed, Broadway theaters stayed dark, ballgames were called, commuters could not get to the office, businesses lost power and big plants were flooded.

And how much economic activity will be generated by the cleanup and rebuilding efforts is hard to pinpoint. But economists are beginning to make educated guesses.

Frederick Treyz, the chief economist of Regional Economic Models, did an analysis of the possible impact of the storm.

Assuming that direct damages totaled $7 billion, Treyz projected that the recovery would generate roughly 42,000 jobs — including construction workers, debris removers and the jobs that would be generated by the money they earned and spent elsewhere.

But he calculated that one day's business disruption across the affected region — a rough estimate that allows for some businesses that were not disrupted at all, and others that were disrupted for several days — would lead to losses that could cost roughly 62,000 jobs.