If you own a vacation home, chances are you can afford the insurance you need to protect it. But in the real world, your policy may not cover 100 percent of disaster damage. And then there are those deductibles.

So how do you get the money you need to repair the storm damage?

If you want to use a home equity line of credit, or HELOC, you have two options. You can get a line of credit on your primary residence. Or, if you already have a HELOC on your now-damaged vacation home, you may still be able to access it.

But it's also possible the bank could cut or curtail a HELOC on a now-damaged home, said Frank Donnelly, president of the Mortgage Bankers Association of Metropolitan Washington, D.C.

The upside: Rates are low - often in the neighborhood of prime plus 1 percent, Donnelly said. And you can take only as much money as needed, and only when you need it. If the loan is secured by your primary residence, you can often deduct the interest, he said. And you can usually close in two to four weeks, he said.

The downside: Before you can get an equity-based loan, you have to have some equity. Rates often are adjustable, and while you can often lock in a fixed rate later, it will typically be higher, Donnelly said. There can be transaction fees for the loan, which can often range from several hundred to several thousand dollars, depending on the lender and your area, he said.

Also, if the loan is based on equity in your primary residence, you're putting that home at risk of foreclosure if you have another financial catastrophe and can't make the payments.

Refinance your home, cash out some of its equity and fix your vacation home. Or, in some cases, you might be able to cash out equity on your vacation home - based on what it would be worth after the repairs, Donnelly said.

The upside: Rates are low - about prime-plus-one for the best credit profiles - and can be fixed or adjustable, he said. And you can deduct the interest on your taxes.

The downside: First, you need to have equity in the residence. With a cash-out refinance, lenders often loan up to 75 percent of the home's value, Donnelly said.

That means you'll need significant equity to walk away from the table with any cash.

The biggest concerns: If you get hit by another unexpected event (job loss, layoffs, unforeseen bills), you're putting your main home at risk to fix your vacation home. And if home values drop, you could end up owing more than the home is worth. If you need to cover a couple thousand dollars, it might be tempting to use a loan you already have: a credit card.

The upside: It's easy, quick and you don't have to go through an approval process.

The downside: It can sink your credit rating, even as you're shoring up your second home.

An alternative is to use a charge card, with which balances are paid in full every month, because many don't report balances to the credit bureaus. But you'll have a pretty short window to repay that money.

If you use a card, charge the expenses themselves rather than using a cash advance that will likely carry a higher annual percentage rate and could have different repayment requirements.

Sometimes called signature loans, personal loans are unsecured advances that are granted based almost solely on your good credit.

These are usually smaller loans (think a few thousand dollars), but some banks may take it as high as the $10,000 range, Donnelly said.

The upside: You're not putting any assets on the line. You don't have to specify why you want the money. And because you're not putting it on credit cards, you don't have to worry about wrecking your credit rating if you carry it for more than a few months.

The downside: Not all institutions offer personal loans. You need great credit. And rates will be higher than with secured loans, likely in the neighborhood of 9 percent or 10 percent, Donnelly said.

Many plans allow penalty-free withdrawals to repair a primary home, not a vacation home, said Wayne Bogosian, president of The PFE Group and co-author of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to 401(k) Plans and Providing Financial Education and Advice."

The upside: You don't have to give a reason. While rules vary, you can often borrow up to half of your account balance, up to $50,000 - less any 401(k) loans you've taken out in the last year, Bogosian said. Rates generally are about prime plus 1 or 2 percent and typically have a five-year repayment period, he says.

The downside: Not all plans allow loans. If you leave your job (voluntarily or involuntarily), repayment is due immediately. If you can't repay it, you'll owe income tax on the total plus a 10 percent penalty. Not to mention you've raided your retirement nest egg.

Taking money out of your individual retirement account is easy, but it might be wiser to exhaust other options first.

The upside: Your traditional and Roth IRA money is generally available for you.

The downside: If you're using an IRA loan to "bridge" a check from an insurer or another loan, ask yourself what happens if you can't get that money within 60 days.

And last but not least, this is money you'd planned to have earning interest for your retirement. What happens to you if it's not there for your retirement?