Early Estimate Of Vehicles Damaged By Hurricane Sandy — 230,000, Mostly in NY, NJ

Hurricane Sandy damaged or destroyed about 230,000 vehicles, according to an analysis of insurance claims filed as of last week.

Most of those were in New York and — 130,000 automobiles — followed by New Jersey, which had about 60,000 insurance claims for vehicles, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau and the Insurance Services Office, which is a subsidiary of Verisk Analytics.

The analysis didn’t say how many vehicle claims there were in Connecticut, only that the remaining 40,000 vehicle claims represented Connecticut, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia.

The claims data is preliminary and the total number of vehicles damaged by the storm could increase as additional claims are filed. The early estimate also didn’t explain the extent of damage for each of the claims — whether it was small scratches from a falling branch or a car completely swamped by storm surge.