Barbour County, Alabama · Clayton
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Pipes freeze in Barbour County on about 1 night a year, mostly midwinter. Older homes, 19% of the stock here, are most at risk.
January brings the most downpours to Barbour County, part of 13.8 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
Sewage backups in Barbour County spike on heavy-rain days, about 13.8 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Barbour County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 9.58 inches, and about 22 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
8% of occupied homes in Barbour County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Alabama county median of 9.9%.
With 125 muggy nights a year, mold in Barbour County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
With 11,762 homes and around 24,643 residents, Barbour County is 885 square miles of southeast Alabama. Besides Clayton, the county seat, the biggest communities are Eufaula, Clio and Louisville. The county's median home was built in 1983.
39/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Barbour County ranks 51 of 67 Alabama counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Barbour County ranks highest compared with other Alabama counties.
Barbour County is milder than most of Alabama, but not mild enough to skip winterizing. From 2015–2024 it averaged 1 night a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 22 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 55th of 67 counties.
With only about 22 freezing nights a year, many homes here aren't built for cold, so a single arctic outbreak can burst pipes across the county. The record low in this data was about 13°F, on December 24, 2022.
Barbour gets fewer downpours than most Alabama counties, but they still fill basements. About 13.8 days a year bring an inch or more (60th of 67), most often in January, out of 55.7 inches of total precipitation. On September 17, 2020, 9.58 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 11.36 inches (through September 17, 2020).
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 22 times a year here. They're the main driver of ice dams and of water working its way through foundation cracks in late winter.
Housing
45% of homes in Barbour County predate 1980, close to the Alabama county median of 43.5%, which ranks 29th of Alabama's 67 counties.
Older and newer homes sit side by side here: 19% predate 1960 and 16% are from 2000 or later. Corroded pipe is the typical failure in the first group, burst supply hoses in the second.
38% date from 1980 to 1999, the window when polybutylene, a gray flexible plastic supply pipe, was used in some homes. It's prone to leaks at the fittings, so it's worth checking for in a house from those years.
Here 27% of housing is manufactured homes. Check the skirting and the heat tape on the main water line every fall, because that one exposed line is what freezes.
The Census counted 22% of homes as vacant, above the Alabama county median of 15.8%. Empty houses are where a small leak turns into a large claim, because nobody is there to hear it.
Renters occupy 32% of homes. If you rent, the building is usually the landlord's to repair, but your belongings are only covered by renters insurance.
Beyond water
Barbour County averages 125 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in January. Mold grows when indoor humidity stays above about 60%, the EPA's ceiling. A basement dehumidifier set to 50% and drying anything wet within 24 to 48 hours prevents most problems.
Mold remediation: what to expectBy main heating fuel, Barbour County homes break down as 5% utility gas, 86% electric, 8% propane and under 1% wood. Most homes here heat with gas or electricity, so cooking and electrical faults are the likelier fire sources. Even a contained kitchen fire can send soot through the ductwork to every room.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Barbour County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Bullock, Pike and Russell get more pipe-freeze nights than Barbour. Henry County has the oldest housing nearby, with 47% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Barbour | Alabama median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 19% | 16% | 19 of 67 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 45% | 44% | 29 of 67 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 16% | 23% | 59 of 67 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 27% | 22% | 16 of 67 |
| Vacant homes | 22% | 16% | 24 of 67 |
| Wood or propane heat | 7.6% | 9.9% | 41 of 67 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 1/yr | 3/yr | 55 of 67 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 14/yr | 15/yr | 60 of 67 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 22/yr | 38/yr | 59 of 67 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 125/yr | 112/yr | 18 of 67 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Alabama county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Barbour County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in January, April and December.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024 5-year estimates (2020-2024); weather from NOAA nClimGrid-Daily county averages (EpiNOAA), 2015–2024, averaged across the county; county boundaries from Census TIGER. Reviewed 2026-10-21. Methodology