Interesting related story, I installed a ~$100 Panamax surge protector on a client's media system, (TV, amp, cable box etc). He had a lighting strike a tree in his backyard. Fried his furnace, microwave and pretty much anything else connected to his electrical system that had a circuit board inside.
Everything behind the surge protector was fine. The surge protector itself was toast (partially melted) but took the bullet. It was also kinda funny because the Tv etc was 4-5 years old the client would have preferred to have them replaced by insurance since he was putting a claim in anyways.
All bets are off when lighting strikes (I think the above client was (un)lucky depending on the perspective) but I do recommend surge protectors (particularly with under/over voltage protection) to all my clients especially if they are on acreages / farms will tend to have more power issues.
In regards to whole-home vs individual surge protection, industry training I have taken (albeit potentially somewhat self-serving and biased) recommends individual protection over single whole-home protection as they can be over/under voltages, spikes etc generating by sub-pumps etc within a home.
I am not an expert when it comes this topic but just sharing what I have learned over the years.
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