...The tech thought it was strange that just a few ports quit working...
Not strange at all. The EMP generated by a nearby lightning strike can get induced into the inside wiring and blow ports. The longer the extension is away from the KSU, the greater the chance of a blown port.
I've cleaned up after a couple of EMP events. Never lost a power supply. Never lost any ports on the KSU (this was a Norstar ICS), either, but all of the phones at the far end of the building were blown. Ethernet ports on almost every computer and most of the ethernet switch ports were blown.
