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One can still have faith and think that the Old Testament is a collection of stories meant to explain to man the the meaning and history of his relationship with God.

True, although many different ancient cultures have transmitted tales of a great flood. There are many possible explanations for the stories.

I am aware of other flood stories in ancient cultures. Though one could think that flood stories are a natural for cultures to hand down from generation to generation with each generation adding their own embelishments until it is finally written and becomes unchangeable. This, however, does not make them the literal truth. We still tell stories of a tornado that happened over 25 years ago. Most are true but who knows in a hundred years how the stories may have changed.

There also is a story related by some spanish explorers. They landed at a previously uncharted island and discovered a tribe of people living there that had a markedly "Norse" look to them. Blonde Hair, fair skin, blue eyes. (Not sure of the exact details). This group of people spoke a dialect that the spanish had never heard before. These tribesmen made it clear to the Spanish that they were quite surprised to see other men, as their legends and history spoke of a great deluge that wiped out the entire population of the earth except for them. Unfortunately the Spanish ended up wiping this tribe from the face of the earth. Not sure where the island is but it's one of the more commonly known islands in the Caribbean today.