Interesting story! There's a lot you can do to reduce the liklihood of a lightning strike, but nothing you can really do to prevent it, short of building a giant cage around your house. (Which is, incidently, how they protect ammunition depots and things of that nature which you really really don't want struck by lightning.)
I wonder if the steel rebar in his house was actually bonded and grounded, or if it was merely the most convenient path towards the ground?
