Do they use lightning rods anymore?

Question

a few houses in my neighborhood have been struck by lightning and hurt! and there are many storms coming now. these are normal two story houses, but i live in flat old indiana. so why dont they use lightning rods to protects us?

Answer 1

Most residential builders use the excuse that there are nearby things such as power lines that provide lightning protection.  There are lightning protection codes but few have the force of law, in the US, at least.

"Since 1904 the National Fire Protection Association NFPA-780 Standard for the Installation of Lightning Protection Systems (NFPA-780) has been the de facto lightning protection document in the USA. While NFPA-780 has no authority or force of law, it describes minimum standards to residential, commercial and industrial facilities. It exempts itself from the electric utility industry and from explosives issues. NFPA-780 in the main describes how to install Franklin lightning rods. The purpose of this paper is to provide summaries of lesser-known, but more comprehensive, USA lightning protection documents. These publications may assist the specifying architect and engineer."