Tetanus is a serious infection which can even be fatal. Tetanus germs (bacteria) live in the soil and dirt. The bacteria may get into your body through a cut or a wound in the skin. The bacteria make a poison (toxin) which causes the illness. Even small wounds such as a prick from a thorn can allow enough bacteria to get into the body to cause tetanus. The illness usually takes 7-8 days to develop but can vary from one day to two months. Therefore, you may have forgotten about a small cut before the illness starts.
However, if you can handle drying a basement on your own, heed the following suggestions: Pump out standing water. Use a wet/dry vacuum or submersible pump, rentable at Home Depot and other home improvement centers. At Home Depot, wet/dry vacs rent for $19 for four hours or $27 for 24 hours. A regular household vacuum won't do the trick, and using it might prove dangerous.
Basements tend to be damp. The reason is simple: when you dig a big hole in the ground, nature likes to fill it up with water. Although there are construction details that you can use to keep water out of your basement, the required details are somewhat fussy and expensive.