You seem to be saying that there are ineffective whole house surge protectors, and effective ones. I wouldn't know how to determine if ours has a connection to ground less than ten feet from ________. (the circuit breaker box?)
From every breaker box is a quarter inch solid (and bare) copper wire. Where does it go? Well, one must go to water pipes. A fault (electrifying a water pipe) means that electricity is removed from the pipes because the ground wire is connected. Otherwise one can be electrocuted in the shower or bath.
Another wire must go outside to an earth ground rod (or other electrode). It must exist to meet 1990 National Electrical code. And it does not exist on numerous homes. A 'whole house' protector is as ineffective as a plug-in protector if that ground wire does not exist.
Again, where does energy get harmlessly dissipated? If that wire does not exist, then energy is inside your building hunting for earth destructively via appliances. No earth ground means no effective protection. Only inspection can determine if that ground wire and earthing electrode (ie ground rod) exists.
That wire exists to meet safety codes. Surge protection means that earth must exceed code. For example, if that bare copper wire goes up over the foundation and down to earth, then you have compromised protection. That wire is too long. Too many sharp bends. Bundled with other wires. That ground wire must go through the foundation and down to earth to be shorter, less bends, and separated from other wires. That connection must be as short as practical.
Inspection is trivial. Locate the bare copper wire both inside (near the breaker box) and outside (where is connects to an earth ground rod(s). If you don't have it, then you still have no surge protection.
Many are missing this earthing. Either disconnected or it never existed. Some are even missing that other bare copper wire to water pipes. The lights still work; therefore everything must be OK? Reasoning that can even cause death. Only inspection can confirm both ground wires exist.
Surge protector is not a magic box. Too many (including some electricians) want to view the magic box (a surge protector) as protection. Protection is that bare copper wire and the earth electrode it connects to. Only inspection can confirm it exists.
I usually see maybe as much as two out of ten older homes do not even have that water pipe connection. Unsafe and cannot provide surge protection. Only a homeowner is responsible for maintaining those grounds. Nobody will fix that defect when the homeowner does not first learn this basic knowledge.
You have described a blackout. With so many naive 'experts', many are told that blackouts are surges. A problem made even more apparent by increasing numbers of computer repairmen who do not know how electricity works. A+ Certified computer techs need not know anything about electricity to pass that test. Which is why so many electrical myths (ie a blackout is a surge) get promoted.