WiFi Card ruined?

During a storm, I decided to shut down my laptop and the wireless modem so that they would be safe after some time.

After the storm, I switched on my laptop and the wireless modem but I could not connect to the internet. I tested the internet connection with a desktop connecting directly to the modem and found no fault with the modem. I restarted my laptop several times but it does not solve the problem. Tried reinstalling the driver of the wireless card does not work too.

I unplugged my laptop from my usual spot and placed it close to the desktop to try instructions from troubleshooting sites (Note that the desktop is close to the wireless modem). Weirdly the internet of my laptop works again! Then I bring my laptop back to the usual spot, and once again the internet does not work. Only then I  found out that the range of my wireless card somehow has been affected by the storm! 
The internet works only when my laptop is within 5 meters from the wireless modem!

I think the culprit of the damage is the storm, which somehow affected the electric current, partially fried my wireless card, reducing the range of the wifi to melee range!

Hope that Dell would send their technician to diagnose or replace the wireless card of my laptop so that I could surf freely.