Coffee County, Alabama · Elba
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Coffee County averages 1 night a year at 20°F or colder, mostly midwinter, and 13% of its homes predate 1960.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 14.4 times a year here, most often in December. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Coffee County gets about 14.4 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Coffee County, 7.32 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
4% of occupied homes in Coffee County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Alabama county median of 9.9%.
With 130 muggy nights a year, mold in Coffee County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 54,920 people live in Coffee County, 679 square miles in southeast Alabama, in roughly 24,656 homes. The county seat is Elba, and Enterprise, New Brockton and Kinston round out the largest towns. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1987.
29/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Coffee County ranks 65 of 67 Alabama counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Coffee County ranks highest compared with other Alabama counties.
Winters here are on the gentler end for Alabama, and pipes still freeze. 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 26 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 55th of 67 counties.
Most freezing nights fall from midwinter, peaking in January. Disconnect garden hoses and shut off outdoor spigots before the first hard frost, and keep the heat at 55°F or higher if you'll be away.
Freezing nights typically start around Nov 20 and end around Mar 7.
Coffee gets fewer downpours than most Alabama counties, but they still fill basements. The county gets about 58.3 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 14.4 days of an inch or more (50th of 67). Those downpours cluster in January, April and December, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 7.32 inches on September 17, 2020. The worst three-day stretch dropped 11.68 inches, ending September 17, 2020, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 26 days a year. Each cycle melts and refreezes water at roof edges and in foundation cracks, which is how ice dams and basement seepage get started.
Housing
Roughly 41% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Coffee among the newer housing stocks of Alabama's 67 counties.
Growth since 2000 added 32% of today's homes. In houses that new, the weak points are washing machine hoses, ice maker lines, water heaters and sump pumps rather than the pipes in the walls.
27% 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.
12% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, below the Alabama county median of 21.7%. Their water lines run under the floor behind the skirting, so a torn skirt or failed heat tape freezes them faster than lines in a site-built house.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 130 times a year here, above the Alabama county median of 112. 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 expectMain heating fuel in Coffee County's occupied homes: 8% utility gas, 86% electric, 4% propane and under 1% wood. Fires here are likelier to start in the kitchen or the wiring than in the furnace. After any fire, keep the HVAC off until ducts are checked, or soot will travel through the house.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Coffee County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Crenshaw and Pike get more pipe-freeze nights than Coffee. Covington County has the oldest housing nearby, with 53% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Coffee | Alabama median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 13% | 16% | 52 of 67 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 41% | 44% | 46 of 67 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 32% | 23% | 10 of 67 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 12% | 22% | 55 of 67 |
| Vacant homes | 15% | 16% | 39 of 67 |
| Wood or propane heat | 4.4% | 9.9% | 56 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 | 50 of 67 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 26/yr | 38/yr | 54 of 67 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 130/yr | 112/yr | 11 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 Coffee 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