Sending hugs Beth Flooding sucks. We have a sump pump to prevent/keep up with flooding, but they can be pricey (although in the long run they save a lot of money in preventing damage).

edit: Funny story, at my dad's we had Bo down there and we had some major flooding while Bo was down there and you could see the path he took trying to get up the stairs from the basement by everything that was knocked off of shelves/drawers/etc.