Ok crawlspace gurus.....

I just bought my first house for a pretty good deal (I think), but the
crawl space needs work. It is an older 1968 ranch house located in
Atlanta with about a 3 to 4 foot crawlspace. I noticed the crawlspace
was kind of moist when I bought it, but I recently did some work on one
of my bathrooms and had the complete bathroom floor pulled up down to
the joists and noticed that on heavy rains (recent effects of FL
hurricanes), water is just flowing in like a slow creek. How did I see
the water...b/c I don't have a vapor barrier either. So the water is my
first issue, but I don't want to put a vapor barrier before getting the
water to stop.

Second issue: Venting? I have some vents that have been blocked off by
the previous owners (piece of sheet metal or something). Not all of the
vents are blocked though. So, what is the rule of thumb for this. Are
there certain vents you block due to the direction they are facing?
Should I block them all? Block during certain seasons?

I had a crawlspace "expert" give me an estimate of $10,000 to cover
1000 sq feet of crawlspace. I politely declined his offer....

Any suggestions on steps to improving my crawlspace?