many different religions have stories of great floods. people have wondered why this is such a common theme throughout different religions. while reading the epic of Gilgamesh recently i realized something. the great flood might have just been a tsunami. tsunamis are most often caused by earthquakes and tectonic plates rubbing against each other. i went and checked and there is actually a tectonic plate in the Mediterranean sea near where all of the flood story religions started.
this doesn't fully explain the different arc stories and how the floods are usually said to be caused by great storms. its entirely possible that someone built an arc and a hurricane or other big storm hit at the same time as the tsunami making the people think the flood was caused by the storm. someone else has probably proposed this theory but i haven't seen any other examples of this.
It definitely seems possible. As well as a storm at the same time as a tsunami, it could just be that when you live inland and might never have seen the sea, it's easier to retell the story with something more familiar