A recent BBC programme on tsunamis postulated that the best explanantion for Pharaoh's army getting drownded was a tsunami.

The sea was most likely the Reed Sea - a freshwater estuary. And the translation misread reed and red (in Hebrew?). Moses was said to come down from Mount Sinai sporting beams of light from his head, or horns in some translations - the same confusion with similar words.
And if there were (say) as little as an hour between the Israelites and Pharaoh's Army and they picked an unfortunate hour or so. Let's assume the parting bit is somewhat artistic licence, maybe days wating for the right conditions.

It makes the story plausible.