M Street Beach in South Boston on Tuesday (Jim O'Sullivan/Globe Staff)

In the days and weeks that follow this blizzard, local insurance companies and agents say they expect to receive a torrent of phone calls as homeowners, businesses and drivers try to recoup their losses from snow, wind, and water damage.

“We’ll see these claims,” Skelly said. Some clients, he added, may not realize the damage caused by the blizzard, such as water damage to inside walls, until weeks later when the snow starts to melt.

Skelly, insurance agents and companies such as Liberty Mutual and Commerce Insurance closed local offices on Tuesday. But many had information on their websites about how to make a claim. They also were checking voicemails or directing customers to service centers in parts of the country unaffected by the blizzard.

Liberty Mutual, for example, has claims service offices in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Colorado and Washington to handle initial customer calls, said Glenn Greenburg, a company spokesman.

Powerful winter storms that have occurred frequently in recent years are triggering more insurance claims at higher costs across the country. Last year, winter weather was blamed for 15 percent of automobile, home, and business insurance claims in the United States, more than double the 20-year average of 6.7 percent, according to the Insurance Information Institute, an industry group based in New York City.

--Deirdre Fernandes

Utility crews lined Ocean Street in Marshfield Wednesday morning, trying to restore electricity as officials sought to assess the damage from a seawall breach in the Brant Rock section of town.