This.

A power line hit the ground. The ground must not be bone dry; that's normal, so at that place you can measure a voltage actually in the ground, decreasing with distance from the wire... unless there's a pipe nearby. That pipe will have a lower resistance than the soil, so will act as a conduit (good term!) for the raised voltage, taking it into the house.

The guy who got a shock touched a pipe, probably connected to one that passed near the wire on the ground -- and BECAUSE HIS DRAIN WAS GROUNDED, he got a shock.

[Link: en.wikipedia.org].

I would look at an open neutral before I made that broad statement. I didn't mean to chuck insults Ernie :). Just an EE trying to be rational. Sorry I got you wound up.