Ground spikes can be awesome.
Last year at my place of work there was a direct strike to a telephone pole approximately 150 yards from our main building. The ground spike traveled across a pair of railroad tracks, past a 2-lane secondary road, across 100' of paved parking lot, and tripped the main service breaker for our building. And that breaker is 2000 amps (2K). Impressive.
As time goes by I an beginning to feel safer in a hammock than in a tent. All things considered, I am feeling that I would choose to be off of the ground during a storm, away from that ground spike. As Knotty said, squatting with only your feet touching ground is the recommended action for those caught above treeline. ANd being in a forest of like-height trees improves your odds.
Anyone want to develop a backpacker's Faraday Cage?
Jim