Let’s just pretend for a moment that the stories in the Bible are literally true, and there really was a flood that happened exactly as described. This article suggests that “the skill of modern engineers… could readily have prevented the inundation.”

Wasn’t the flood supposed to have covered the whole planet? We can barely contain floods today with modern engineering, so that would be a big feat for 1910 hydraulics. The article says, “The Bible records that the flood rose to a height of 15 cubits, or 22½ feet.” That’s it? Just 15 cubits? I always thought the waters rose 15 cubits above the highest mountain. So I looked it up. Genesis 7:20 says “Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered” (KJV). I guess they were small mountains.

For comparison, the maximum height of a New Orleans levee in 2005 was 23 feet.

NO FLOOD IF NOAH HAD KNOWN HYDRAULICS: Old Testament Story Viewed in the Light of Recent Surveys of the “Garden of Eden” in the Euphrates Valley (PDF)

From April 10, 1910