Drove into puddle, now it cranks but will not start

I had gotten a tornado warning on my phone while I was at work. It was dark, and I had just started my car and maybe got twenty feet down the road when I hit a puddle. I did not even have time to realize what happened when the car slowly lost power and stalled out. The next day I returned to the car to take the spark plugs out and do an oil change. I could not get the car to start and spit the water out like people had said to do online. I had some experienced guys help me jump it, but it just clicked as if the starter was bad. We did replace the starter, and manually cranked it. We got the engine to turn over a couple times, but it will not start. It does not grind, it just seizes. I got a friend's dad to take a crack at it; he shimmed the starter, and got it to turn over a few more times. When we go to crank it, it cranks for awhile then gets really tight. He says it feels like it is seizing by the flywheel/clutch. I will probably tear apart the car with him this weekend and see if that needs to be replaced. Just today I bought new spark plugs and spark plug wires but the battery is dead. I am really not sure what to do, I cannot afford a mechanic at this time. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, I am willing to try just about anything. I live in NY and I really want to get the car working before winter, as I work at a factory that is a mile away from home and walking home at 12:00 am sucks.