CAPE MAY — In “one really incredible crack” on Wednesday, the city’s decision as to whether to move to the countywide emergency dispatch system got a lot easier when lightning struck City Hall.

“It fried our dispatch center. It fried our backups, everything,” said police Chief Dekon Fashaw, who was in his office at the time.

Rain had already started in Lower Township as a powerful storm moved overhead and blue skies quickly turned dark, Fashaw said. There were a few lightning strikes in the area before the direct hit on City Hall, which also houses the Police Department in the former Cape May High School building on Washington Street…