There is abundant proof the biblical "flood" was an actual event

The topic says it all I know for a fact that there is abundant proof and look forward to the debate. I will wait to see what my opponent has to offer as far as evidence is concerned before I state the facts.

I don't believe "the flood" as described in the christian bible occurred because:

a) we see no single great sedimentary layer consistent with a world-wide flood event

b) it relies on magic:
- animals, apart from humans and dinosaurs, magically manage to travel many thousands of miles and join Noah, and behave themselves while somehow sustained for over many months in an enormous wooden boat
- an immense amount of water rains down from an unknown source, cover the entire planet, and then somehow drains away again
- the boat (the Arc) is left stranded on top of Mt Ararat (>16,800ft thin air, icy cold)
- the animals, (including insects and worms?) then make their way back down off the volcano and around the planet and are somehow sustained until they've bred their numbers in the right proportions to form a sustainable ecosystem.

c) no trace of the immense Arc has ever been found despite it being a very small and clearly defined area.

Actually, I believe the story of "the flood" is considerably older than the bible.
There are similar fables from the Sumerians, Akkadians, and Babylonians.
The most famous of which is the "Epic of Gilgamesh" http://en.wikipedia.org... from perhaps 29,000 years ago.

What probably happened was that the big hero/king Gilgamesh wanting timber, rode up-river, felled a lot of cedar trees, bound them together and after the waters had built up enough to shift them [the flood] rode the logs back down the Euphrates with horses/donkeys and some helpers on board.
Lots of wood moved really easily! Animals came with him!
Most exciting thing to happen in ages. The sensational story spreads to Egypt (where they relate to big rivers very well) and goes on with some of them to be incorporated into the bible in an even more exciting dramatic form but without a heroic king [Pharaoh] (stories nearly always develop this way.)

Since JL missed out on replying, I'm skipping my turn.
Since JL missed out on replying, I'm skipping my turn.
Since JL missed out on replying, I'm skipping my turn.
(There must be >100 characters here now!)

Since JL again missed out on replying, I'm skipping my turn.
It would be tidier if both people decided not to reply, that that round just disappeared.

Oh well, there you go. At least there isn't too much to read!
Most debates could be much shorter, but people seem to think that more it better.