Noah’s Flood: Catastrophic and Gradual?

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I am responding to your article, "Was There Really a Great Flood?" (Aug. 2, 2009). We know that with the end of the Ice Age, sea levels rose 100’s of feet around the world. Although most of this would have been gradual and over 1000s of years, there is no reason that some of it could not have been catastrophic.

Specifically, a vast lake has been postulated as covering the current Great Lakes and land to the north, held in place by an ice dam; with the breaking of the dam, the entire lake might drain in weeks, resulting in the sudden rise of sea levels, conceivably causing the overflow and breakthrough of the Mediterranean into the Black Sea.

That would allow for a common Flood event around the world. With reference to your article, it should be noted that the Gilgamesh and Noah stories are very similar, because they originate in the same area, and likely relate to the same (historical?) individual.