On the very same day Noah and Noah's sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark - they and every beast after its kind, all cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort. And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life. So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in. Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The water increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole of heaven were covered. And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died. So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground; both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive. And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days. Genesis 7: 13-24
There is nowhere in Genesis that I have seen reference to an isolated geographical incident. The flood described here encompasses the earth, otherwise, God could have told Noah to move, and there would be no need to collect all the animals if it was in an isolated location. This was a flood that covered the whole earth, and though symbolic on many levels, it is written to describe an actual event. There are, if I remember correctly and at last count, over 270 flood stories told in cultures all over the earth that find their origin in this event.
