A number of the Pre-Judaic religions of the region have flood "myths". The best explanation so far has been that they are from the flooding of the Mediterranean valley in pre-historic time, when the Atlantic broke through ( see Atlantis legends, Babylonian myths, et al).

There have been some recent discoveries of indications of villages well below the water line of the present Med.

To a culture of that time ( before 1500 BCE) that would have seemed like a world-wide flood. I am not aware of any similar myths associated with Asian or American cultures, though, so a "local" flood seems to be the likely source for the Biblical story.