This came from Barbara Weltman, Esq. an attorney based in Millwood NY and was written in a publication called Bottom Line/Personal.
You may qualify for a federal tax deduction if you were affected by Sandy and live in a federally declared disaster area. To claim the deduction, you must itemize deductions on your federal tax return. The deduction is limited to the amount of catastrophic loss over 10% of your adjusted gross income. If your home has significant damage, you may want to get an appraisal of its pre- and post-disaster value. Helpful: to speed up the process, you can amend your 2011 tax return to include the deduction.
Barbara Weltman, Esq.