City Fire Chief Jon Canada said more than half the building was damaged "either by water or the roof collapse itself."
Canada said there were a number of people in the building at the time but all escaped unharmed.
He said that about the same time, lightning hit the ground at the Chicopee Woods Golf Course and sparked a fire in a gas line near the clubhouse. Canada said firefighters stood by, protecting the clubhouse, until the gas company could arrive and cut the gas off, extinguishing the fire.
Canada said those were just one of a number of weather-related calls the department answered.
"At one point, we (were) completely stretched on our capabilities."
Rainfall at the Gainesville airport totaled 2.20 inches, the biggest single-day total since March 1, 2007, when 2.68 inches were recorded. The top wind gust recorded at the airport Tuesday night was 34 mph.
GWINNETT COUNTY/DEKALB COUNTY
Gwinnett firefighters responded to more than 140 weather-related calls as severe thunderstorms pounded north Georgia Tuesday night.
The worst of the damage in Gwinnett appears to have been caused by a lightning-sparked fire that destroyed a house on Buford Drive in Duluth.
Lighting knocked out power to a water plant in DeKalb County and, as a result, a large part of the county - incuding Avondale, Chamblee, Decature and Doraville - is under a boil water advisory.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2008/7/211752