Indirect lightning strikes a danger to a home's appliances and electronics - Villages-News: News,...

Ironically, when we lived in Dale City, VA, I was selected to attend Air Command and Staff College and elected to leave the family in DC rather than uproot them to Alabama for a year. One day, after class, I get a call from my wife and I can hear Firetrucks in the background. My immediate response, is Oh crap, one of the boys burned down the house! Turns out that they had a bad thunderstorm and lightning struck the Sweet Gum tree in the front yard and electricity traveled through the ground into our house and fried just about everything in the basement family room : TV, VCR, Stereo, Refrigerator, etc. Could have been a lot worse, the family was in the room at the time and said that sparks/flames flew out of the electrical sockets for an indoor fireworks show! Very scary, indeed!

We full time in an RV driving around (currently in Yosemite) and have a full RV surge protector that we plug in right at the source.

https://www.amazon.com/Surge-Guard-34830-Portable-Display/dp/B00T36Q7R2/ref=sr_1_6?crid=5KICW00T6FJJ&keywords=rv+surge+protector+30+amp+surge+guard&qid= [login to see] &s=gateway&sprefix=rv+surge+%2Caps%2C279&sr=8-6

Once in a while we've found that the RV parks outlets are not wired correctly and are happy for the protection. A bit of upfront cost but a lot less expensive than what a lightning strike could cause to an electrical system.

That’s why you need good homeowner insurance policies. Had this happen to me some years back and they paid for replacement.