AUGUSTA – Strange weather swept through Maine on Jan. 13.

Downright balmy temperatures – nearly 50 degrees – greeted church-goers in central and eastern Maine that Sunday morning, followed by rain. That afternoon, snowflakes the size of golf balls began floating down, and by evening, precipitation had turned to the consistency of oatmeal, plastering itself to limbs, wires and road surfaces.

Not surprisingly, widespread power outages were reported as utility lines went down in Hancock, Kennebec, Knox, Lincoln, Penobscot, Sagadahoc, Somerset, Waldo and Washington counties.

What was a surprise to many, however, was that telephone service also failed even in areas where the phone lines were not damaged.

During a meeting Thursday, staffers from the Maine Public Utilities Commission grilled officials from Verizon, the state’s largest telephone provider, on the adequacy of its emergency system and specifically about the company’s handling of problems related to the Jan. 13 storm.

John Hyk of Prospect, a former selectman in that Waldo County town and currently a Waldo County commissioner, remembers being told on Jan. 13 by a Verizon representative that phone service went out because a phone cable was down. But after surveying the lines along the peninsula on which he lives, he concluded the cables were intact. Hyk said he was aware that some electricity is required for phone service, but he thought backup systems were in place for such outages. What he said he learned later is that since Verizon has converted to digital telephone service in the last decade, the company has relied on short-lived battery packs for emergencies in many parts of the state.

The batteries last for only eight hours under ideal conditions but die more quickly when there is heavy phone use, and when the air is cold. Concerned about elderly people in his county who might need to call family to get help or to summon emergency assistance, Hyk pressed the PUC and Verizon officials Thursday for answers about that night and for solutions to prevent a similar situation in the future.

“In this last storm,” Hyk told PUC staff, “we had no phone service for almost three days. … From a public safety point of view, what good is 911 if you can’t call?”

Verizon has backup generator systems that maintain service to two-thirds of its customers statewide, according to Peter Reilly, a company spokesman. Hundreds of battery packs located in strategic locations throughout the system are used in emergencies for the remaining third of its customers. Verizon officials told PUC staff Thursday that generators can be set up to replace the batteries as they run down in emergencies and that several more generators had been purchased since the Jan. 13 storm. Verizon officials couldn’t tell the PUC staff Thursday how many battery packs went out during the storm or for how long, but they were asked to produce that information and to respond to other questions within the next two weeks.

Don Boecke, a Verizon attorney, told PUC staff that the company acts quickly when power is out.

“We don’t really wait until … the battery backup power [fails] before we take action,” he said.

Boecke also said Verizon follows a complex priority system when it responds to outages, so it is difficult to assess the company’s performance. Reilly said Verizon has invested $500 million in upgrading telephone systems in Maine during the last five years.

Hyk still wasn’t impressed with Verizon’s responses Thursday, saying, “It isn’t good enough.”

The PUC staff will continue to review the issue. No date has been set for the next meeting on the matter.