There are a variety of "whole home" surge suppressors. When I was having an emergency natural-gas generator installed, they upsold me on one of these things. I have no idea how well it will work, but the $75,000 equipment warranty speaks more to me than any other technical specifications. (Okay, there was that one time my old house took a lightning strike and I tried, and failed, to claim the damage from my stereo gear that was plugged into a Monster power strip. But then we all know that Monster is evil.)

That said, none of this will help me if my house takes a direct lightning strike, or if there's somehow a massive voltage influx through the phone or CATV wiring.

Back to the original post, if I were living in a region with regularly scheduled lightning storms like this, I'd be tempted to disconnect the expensive stuff, as you are, but then if it's raining like hell, I'm far more likely to be inside using my nice computer than outside enjoying the torrential rains and whatnot. Certainly, without a doubt, I'd want to have an offsite backup strategy.