By JIM HICKEY

A fast-moving, violent thunderstorm lashed the Island early Saturday morning, causing temporary flooding and traffic backups and setting off house and car alarms with deep thunder booms and bright lightning strikes, including one that hit the county communications center where the storm-related calls were pouring in.

A bolt of lightning is believed to have started a fire that destroyed a shed behind a home on the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road.

Tisbury fire chief John Schilling said the call came in at about 9:35 a.m., as the department was busy responding to several other storm-related calls. “We were diverted to other calls at the time, so it was very busy. But we still had a full response to the shed fire . . . considering the conditions it was a great response by the men,” the chief said.

The lightning strike narrowly missed a nearby house and garage on either side of the shed. The fire destroyed the shed but did not spread to other structures. No one was injured.

“I think we were fortunate,” he said. Edgartown police Det. Craig Edwards said the storm triggered many car and gas alarms around town.

“We had two carbon monoxide alarms around 9:30 a.m., a burglar alarm around 10 a.m. and another carbon monoxide alarm around 10:20 a.m., so it kept us busy for a while there,” he said.

“We were very busy . . . we got calls from all across the Island,” said Susan Schofield, supervisor of the Dukes County communications center. “That’s normal for a thunderstorm . . . but we got more calls this time than usual,” she added.

She said lightning struck the communications center and caused minor damage to the radio system.

“The lightning caused some problems with the radio repeaters, which still hasn’t been fixed entirely. But this did not slow down the response to any calls for service or disable communications,” she said.

The storm caused flooding near Five Corners on Beach Road, but without incident. “It’s almost surprising we didn’t have a few breakdowns. But the storm went so quickly, things dried out pretty quickly,” said Tisbury police chief Daniel Hanavan.

In Oak Bluffs there was flooding in the streets around Waban Park. Police Lieut. Timothy Williamson said a cruiser stalled out in a puddle on Nantucket avenue.

“The vehicle may have been damaged due to the water, we had to call a tow truck. I think there was over a foot of standing water; which is not that unusual for that area . . . luckily the water subsided rather quickly after that,” he said.

Edgartown police also responded to a single motorcycle accident on Sunday and later issued a summons for the operator. Nicanor Garrido, 43, of Edgartown, was reportedly traveling toward South Beach on Herring Creek Road when he lost control of his motorcycle and ran off the left side of the road. He was taken to Martha’s Vineyard Hospital and treated for injuries. He faces charges of speeding, marked lane violation and operating under the influence of alcohol.