I have an outdoor sump pit in front of my basement door to prevent water coming in during strong rain storms. In the pit is a 5 gallon bucket with a 1/4 hp automatic pump.
Here's more information on my setup and problems.
The sump pump just can't keep up during flash flood level storms. So, any recommendations for sump pumps? Brands you can trust? Specific models that have worked well for you?
My last house had all sorts of awful water issues like this, so I feel your pain...
In a flash-flood type situation, there isn't much that you're going to do with a pump. You didn't describe the terrain too much, but you need to find a way to redirect some of the water in a different direction. If you have gutters that empty in the area, direct the water further away from the house.
Other things that may help:
When municipal systems have issues with flash-flood rain, they install cisterns to capture some of the overflow if redirection can't work.
