A good thing to look into is a natural gas generator. If you own your own home, you can set it up where it takes over as soon as power to the house is disrupted. My father has one on his house. He doesn't have a reef tank but lives in a flood zone and doesn't want his sump pump to not work, or have to mess with a gas generator. It's dead silent when running too. I'm not sure what they cost, but could find out as soon as he returns from vacation if anyone is interested. It would give some peace of mind for those times the power goes out, or you are away and it does. The generator would tie into your gas line, and just sit behind the house. I'm sure it wouldn't be cheap as you would need to have both a plumber and electrician to hook it up. Just an idea. I'll be getting one whenever I get around to buying a house.
And Mike, sorry again for your loss. I couldn't even imagine coming back to find something like that.