Sorry to hear this. Hopefully you got lucky. As others said, fix the weep hole issue, fill and run it to see what happens. No water in the oil means you probably escaped cracks in the lifter galley area. Next is to check the sides of the block for seepage.
Far as the plug purpose debate goes ... have seen countless blocks of many makes crack wide open with no movement of the plugs. The term "freeze plugs" is a hold over from the olden days with dish shaped plugs that sat against a shoulder, and were dimpled to hold them in place. They would pop out far more easily. Often too easy. Even so shape of the internal water jackets meant uneven expansion and cracks.
