[Hugh R]

I'll bet you have one of your 120V two phase busses in the box that are burned. Half the house works fine, the other half doesn't. You can pull the main breaker and pull the sub breakers and inspect them and clean with a wire brush (better yet, have the power company pull the meter if you don't know what you are doing) , check the breaker contacts too as that is where they may have burned. An unethical electrician will tell you that you need a new panel, an honest one will replace the burned buss for about $100. You may just need to clean them up.