Help with Verizon

Last Friday and Saturday nights, we had severe local thunderstorms.
Quarter mile away type stuff. My internet was unaffected. My phone
went dead. There is no dial tone. I took one of the phones, hooked
it up to the direct incoming line, dedicated - nothing else connected -
and it's still dead.

I can't call Verizon. My phone is dead. I can't find a payphone when
I go out. There are none anymore. I went to Verizon.com to file a repair
ticket. That site goes around and around, but you never get to email anyone,
chat with anyone, or find another means of communication. There is a link
where you enter your phone number and Verizon calls you back. And they do
My phone rings, but when I answer, the line goes dead with a large amount
of static. Totally unintelligible. They hang up. I did this four times. After the
second try, it now only rings once when I ask them to call me.

I know, grab a cell phone. I have a pay as you go plan. I've called them twice.
First time I got placed on hold for 6 minutes. Second time it said it tested my
line, and there is nothing wrong with it, and there could be a charge to obtain
repair work. Then they ran me through the repair options I could do myself, such
as conducting a dedicated line check like I ran three days ago.

Do you think it would help if I wrote Verizon a letter? Filed a complaint with the
FCC or Public Utility Commission?

How can you have a phone company that cannot be contacted? Why are they
making this so difficult?