"Robert11" wrote
is it better to just leave the now "floating" antenna alone,
or is it better to ground one end of it ?
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Most MW broadcast stations use series-fed, insulated towers that usually are
(by far) the highest structures in the area. These stations operate
successfully in lightning storms using a combination of means. First is an
arc gap connected across the tower feedpoint to a very low resistance earth
ground (120 1/4-wave, buried radials). The gap is set to flash over at some
margin above the peak voltage present during normal operation. They also
use a "static drain choke" to earth ground, which is a high Z at the MW
frequency, but doesn't let high static potentials develop on the tower. The
last part of the protection system is supplied by transmitter circuitry that
senses instantaneous phase changes in transmission line current, and kills
r-f output for some milliseconds so as not to sustain any arc that occurs in
the antenna system.

Maybe some of these techniques could be useful in amateur radio
installations.

RF