The bible doesn't seem to deal with the whole world as we now know it to be. The flood seems to have been regional also.
Genesis describes global events (creation of seas, etc.) and extra-global events (such as the creation of the Sun, the Moon, the stars in the firmament, etc.)
Personally, I think the creation story in Genesis is a much simplified version of the actual events. Imagine, if you will, that you were trying to tell a six-year-old how television works. You might be able to cover certain technical aspects, but you would of necessity have to considerably simplify many aspects and use metaphors to describe others.
Compared to the mind of God, the mind of Man is nothing--the difference is far greater even than that between an adult and a two-year-old. The Creation Story must almost certainly, then, be a considerably abridged and simplified version of actual events since I don't think the mind of man could fully comprehend what really happened.