Install a whole-house surge arrester at the main panel. This will protect your equipment from lighting as well as transients from arcing light switches and refrigerator motors. Consult an electrician for what's on the market - there are some inexpensive ones that do a good job. Look for something that handles at least 50,000 short-circuit amps and over 500 joules. But keep in mind that lightning strikes are never fully protected against unless you have an engineered system like the ones on airplanes and radio towers, for example.
Again, consult an electrician - surge arresters are useless if your grounding system is inadequate.
Again, consult an electrician - surge arresters are useless if your grounding system is inadequate.