bucketman -
"why don't ground rods help?"...because ground rods are for directing lightning strikes and high voltage line surges (Poco problems) to ground...this current is not part of your circuit wiring and thus does not pass through your circuit breaker.
Another point - if you look at Table 8, it shows the resistance on a #4 conductor over a distant of 1,000 feet to be .508! ....that's .0508 for 100 ft....do the arithmetic...this resistance is so low as to have NO affect on a lightning strike going to earth.