How did the water get in?
Was this the first time to happen?
Why did the sump pump not take care of the problem?

There is another forum on GWeb which might be able to give you explicit advice to deal with this issue. In two or three weeks, you could have mold and mildew in the house, and remediating mold is not an easy thing to deal with. I personally think you should get the water out NOW, let the dehumidifier help dry out the whole area, and hope you can find the source of this problem when you return to a (dry) crawl space.

Take a look at the Basement Forum, and ask your question there. Hope you resolve this issue quickly.

Totally agree with moccasin. By the time a dehumidifier can dry up that much water you'll have a serious health hazard from mold. Is this the smelly house from your other thread? If so, I think you've found the probable cause.

No, a dehumidifier will not dry out a basement, even after extended periods of time.

Dehumidifiers are good when you have water problems corrected and still have damp AIR...not water intrusion or standing water.

Microbials start developing 24-48 hours if water is not dried out.

Spend any money to fix your water problems first. Assess for odors after water is fixed.

BambRose, like most pains in the derriere, ignoring it won't make it go away. Take action quickly, because many of the homes in New Orleans after Katrina which had water standing for weeks afterward, were rendered uninhabitable by mold. It costs a LOT to remediate such things.

Get rid of the water by any means you can. Soon.