Yea The fans were the first things to go. Yes I have surge protectors on almost everything
Your surge protector did exactly what its spec numbers said it would do. Unfortunately, too many recommended devices without even reading those numbers. Those recommendations were just as useless. Those protectors only claim to protect from a type of anomaly that typically causes no damage.
Apparently your voltages were varying. Incandescent lamps changed (increase or decrease) intensity. That indicated a serious electrical problem. One common reason is called open neutral.
Obviously, nothing (surge protector, fuse, etc) was going to protect from an open neutral. However the building's earth ground might have averted even more serious damage (ie a house fire). Only a homeowner is responsible for inspecting and maintaining that earth ground.
Now, brownouts do not damage electronics. But are potentially harmful to motorized appliances. Protecting motors is why utilities regulate line voltage. Voltage should be so stable that incandescent bulbs do not change intensity. So that electric motors are not at risk. Major voltage variations do not damage electronics.
Excessive voltage (incandescent bulbs get brighter) can cause electronics damage. But again, that sentence provides no numbers. So it was just as useless as other replies. 120 volts rising to 150 volts can cause significant bulb brightening. And eventually cause electronics to fail. However, the surge protector says on its box what it will do. It will ignore all AC voltages (remain inert, do nothing) until voltages exceed 330 volts. What does it do for 150 volts? Nothing. Ignores it. Numbers provided with every protector say same.
Solution to protecting motors was to get the problem fixed ASAP as soon as lights were changing intensity. If not, well, you just learned what happens when a failure was all but reporting itself and was not immediately fixed.
