That is one thing about living in Florida. We are very aware of wind, water and lightning. It does take a lot of the mystery out of how folks up north have so much damage from a "freak" storm that is a regular occurrence here.
Lightning protection is not really that tough and you can survive direct hits, no matter what the urban legend says. The trick is directing all of that energy into the ground and stopping the shot going toward the house. A gas line is a particularly scary thing if it arcs across a section of plastic. That becomes a BIC lighter with an unlimited gas supply. You certainly want a bond where it enters the house and I would drive a rod there, even if it was just one of those 4' telco rods if I didn't have a pretty good length of metal pipe in the ground. ... but that is just me.
