On Fri, 20 May 2016 10:49:44 -0700 (PDT), westom
wrote:

On Friday, May 20, 2016 at 5:32:29 AM UTC-4, Micky wrote:
I'm going to assume you know that one story about one house, or even
100 houses, does not make a risk as great when there are many 1000's
of houses ...

Underground wires that enter telco COs get same protection as wires that are overhead. In one venue, that protector failed at the subscriber interface. That wire from CO to subscriber was completely underground. Why did he have a surge if a threat does not exist as you only assume? Because the threat does exist. Because the threat has been well understood for longer than any of us have existed.


NOBODY said there was No threat - just that the threat is
significantly reduced - and nothing you have said has come close to
providing evidence that is not true. Lightning isn't the only threat
to above-ground wiring that causes surges and spikes either - most of
which are even more uncommon with underground services.

Professionals demonstrate how protection must be installed in a Tech Note. Protection is even on the incoming underground phone line because (as indicated in the picture) a lightning strike can enter via buried wires:
https://www.erico.com/catalog/literature/TNCR002.pdf

Legendary application notes from Polyphaser state same:
http://www.polyphaser.com/SiteMedia/...3.pdf?ext=.pdf
The power and telephone feeds to your house can be either aerial
or underground. Most people think underground is better from a
lightning standpoint. Buried underground, it will not be hit
directly, but if a nearby tree is hit, the amount of energy
coupled through the conductive ground medium can be almost
equal to a direct hit. By being underground, the shielding
effect to the wires is not great.

A Bell System Technical Journal paper in the late 1950s by Bodle and Gresh describe lightning strikes to underground cables over 5 month period in NJ, MI, GA, and MD. Somehow professionals have it wrong?

Does not matter if wires are overhead or underground. All incoming wires - overhead or underground - must connect low impedance to properly earthed 'whole house' protection before entering a structure - assuming one wants to protect appliances.
NOTHING can guarantee 100% protection from lightning. You reduce your
exposure as much as yopu can within the limits of cost vs probability.