1999 Saturn wagon ignition fuse starter issue help!?

Evening all, I’ll try to make this short. I bought a 1999 Saturn wagon single cam a month ago I needed a car and it was the best I could find in a pinch. It was kept in good condition no known issues 1 previous owner. A few days ago out of nowhere I had a no crank no start issue. Everyone said starter so I replaced it, no luck then a “mechanic” friend hooked up a toggle switch on the new starter still nothing. Ok so ignition issue either fuses or switch right? I repeatedly asked my husband if all the fuses and boxes were checked, he said yes checked them all. So we bought a new switch still nothing until I discovered it was in fact a fuse issue the #3 ignition fuse on inside kick panel was getting a bad connection. So “mechanic” friend created a fuse out of wire and got a good connection, car started and ran although this damn toggle switch is still being used against my better judgement. It ran fine almost all day until about 2 hours ago when it started smoking (white) from under the hood and shut off. Now we aren’t getting anything but a click and you can smell burnt rubber and plastic. Now here is the kicker a few hours before this happened my husband drove it through 2 feet of flood water during a downpour in our area. Could that be the issue or could the toggle have fried the starter? I’m getting power, even the interior light and chime are still working, they were there only things not working when the fuse was the issue. Can someone help me with even what could be the culprit? This car is our lifeline I cannot afford anything else let alone any more costly repairs.