Flood insurance on "Low-Mid Risk" Property?

[Kyle McCorkel]

Going through a somewhat nightmare scenario on a recently purchased (3 weeks ago!) property in Indianapolis: They had a huge storm last night, and the house experienced both a power outage AND flash flooding leading to water in the basement.  So, the sump pump couldn't pump the water out due to power being out.  Basement is partially finished, so now we have water damage on carpet, drywall and trim.

I did not have flood insurance, because it's not in a flood plain, and tried filed a claim with my regular homeowners insurance anyways (it was promptly rejected).

I will have to come out of pocket (it sounds like) $5K-$6K to repair the damage.

So, few questions to all of you:

1.  Do you carry flood insurance on all your properties, even if they are not in a "high risk" flood plain? Is it worth it? (obviously in my case I wish I had it for this property, but is it worth it in the long term?)

2.  What can I do to be more proactive here...backup battery in sump pump, generator, etc.?

[Eric Morgan]

A fairly cheap , simple and reliable option is a water powered backup. It will work without any electricity at all. No batteries just water.

Here one I just found on Google.

http://www.libertypumps.com/Products/Category/SubCategory/Product/?p=76&s=23&c=14

Hope that helps.

Eric