NEW YORK (Reuters) – Massive storm Sandy might put strains on the liquidity of some municipalities facing unbudgeted costs related to clean-up and repairs, Moody’s rating agency said on Thursday.

The Wall Street ratings agency said that although the track record of recovering from natural disasters is “extremely strong” for U.S. municipal issuers, there are risks.

Up-front clean-up costs may exceed budgeted contingencies, aid from higher levels of government could be delayed and insurance reimbursement could arrive too late, it said.

(Reporting by Tiziana Barghini; Editing by James Dalgleish)