State Farm, the largest U.S. home and auto insurer, said it would start flying two planes over areas affected by superstorm Sandy on Saturday, towing a banner with its claims number.

The planes will fly from sunrise to sunset, with one covering the greater New York City area and the other the New Jersey coast.

The insurer has already received nearly 76,000 claims for what is expected to be the second-worst natural disaster in U.S. history after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The Consumer Federation of America said there will be hundreds of thousands of insurance claims filed due to Sandy and it could take weeks before homeowners or renters with damaged roofs or flooded basements sees an insurance adjuster up close and in person.

Fuel flowed toward disaster victims on Saturday while the lower Manhattan skyline lit up for the first time since the storm slammed into the U.S. Northeast but the death toll rose to at least 110 and people in devastated coastal areas endured more hardship.

(Reuters)