Early visitor

My generator is about 400 lbs and would be difficult to push across a wet lawn. I also chain it to a brick post with a heavy hardened chain and lock.

csmkersh is right on. However, if you have no power (hence the generator), the automatic floods won't do you much good. So I'd have a decent pocket-sized combat light and also a good bright battery-fed light for flooding your yard on demand. You could spend a good amount of money for either, but it'd be worth having the lumens when you need them.

Also, when calling the police, I would let them know that someone is "monitoring" with a [description of weapon] and not engaging in any way, from [location in the house/property]. That way, they'll be careful about just walking right onto the property without communication through dispatch. At the point where I saw some flashlights shining about in my yard, I'd have hit the light and called the bluff. The police are either coming or they're not, and the surprise might be enough to deter further expeditions into your neighborhood or yard.

Best idea though, is to get a weaponlight for your rifle, and a remote switch so that you can still fight with the thing if you indeed light up an armed threat.

Night sight bead and a weapon mounted light are good suggestions. I would try to keep is simple and not add a bunch of gee-gaws on it making the shotgun heavy & cumbersome.

Hardened chains are difficult to cut with a hacksaw but a hammer and cold chisle make short work of busting a link.

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With my two labs in the house and the ruckus they would make with that kind of sound I think it's ok secured like that. If they start up the generator would be the first thing I would look for.

One problem with a weapon mounted light is the fact you have to aim the weapon in that direction to utilize it. In this scenario, I doubt the cops would have appreciated being lit up by the light on a rifle.
A rechargable Million candle spotlight might be the ticket here, and only cost $30-70, depending on the size and features. Many are hand-held, but some have a hanging handle/free-standing base. All of them will blind the target and flood the yard with enough light.

First I would like to commend you for not giving in to your fear of the unknown and either accidentally shooting a well meaning LEO or caving and not taking any action. Your situation had the potential to have many problems and you handled them all well.

Secondly I think I will bookmark this thread for all the other threads where people tell me that weapon mounted lights are not needed because you can just turn the lights on. When the power is off you need light for positive identification of target. Or you can spend time in prison thinking about what you should have done.

I would suggest a purchase of a few things; if you get a weapons mounted LED light you do not have to point it in the direction of the proposed target to get a bit of useful light out of it as the light tends to pool a bit. A streamlight type light throws much more candle power fruther out there but focuses it more in a beam and makes it harder to see when you are not pointing it at the proposed target. Also if you blind the police who are out looking for a prowler (and you have forgotten about in your adrenal rush) they might decide you are threat and engage you. To find out after the fact that it is a LEO is not always good. A good choice is powerful LED light with laser combination. The laser gives you excellent close range accuracy and the LED light is useful in all directions. I do not reccommend a large spotlight or flashlight and a mini-14 rifle unless you have a third arm or tentacle to hold the light with. I would also suggest getting a pistol grip AR style stock for your mini-14 or (even more handy) a bull pup style stock that allows you to attach a light and laser easily and make weapon retention and and close quarters handling much easier.

I hope your power comes back on soon. I was down there when Ruth went through there a few years back and things got rough for a couple of days, especially down by Port Orange and Beaumont. Keep your powder dry....