Covington County, Alabama · Andalusia
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Covington County averages 1 night a year at 20°F or colder, mostly midwinter, and 22% of its homes predate 1960.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 15.3 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 Covington County gets about 15.3 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
Roof leaks here come from summer downpours and, with about 27 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
8% of occupied homes in Covington County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Alabama county median of 9.9%.
With 130 muggy nights a year, mold in Covington County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
With 18,714 homes and around 37,628 residents, Covington County is 1,031 square miles of southern Alabama. Besides Andalusia, the county seat, the biggest communities are Opp, Florala and Babbie. The county's median home was built in 1979.
57/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Covington County ranks 20 of 67 Alabama counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Covington County ranks highest compared with other Alabama counties.
Covington County is milder than most of Alabama, but not mild enough to skip winterizing. It averaged 27 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 1 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 67 Alabama counties that's 55th.
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.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Nov 19 and the last spring freeze around Mar 7.
Rainfall is about average for Alabama. The county gets about 58.7 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 15.3 days of an inch or more (26th of 67). Those downpours cluster in April, May and December, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 5.25 inches on September 17, 2020. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 10.87 inches (through September 17, 2020).
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 27 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
53% of homes in Covington County predate 1980, above the Alabama county median of 43.5%, which ranks 7th of Alabama's 67 counties.
In Covington County 22% of homes are older than 1960. If yours is one of them and the plumbing has never been replaced, expect galvanized steel supply pipe and cast iron drain lines, the two materials most likely to fail quietly.
30% 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 19% 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.
Beyond water
About 130 nights a year in Covington County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (11th of 67 counties). December is the wettest month. Keep indoor humidity under 60%, as the EPA advises, and dry any leak within 24 to 48 hours; in a humid month a wet basement left alone won't dry by itself.
Mold remediation: what to expectMain heating fuel in Covington County's occupied homes: 15% utility gas, 77% electric, 7% 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 Covington County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Crenshaw gets more pipe-freeze nights than Covington. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Covington | Alabama median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 22% | 16% | 9 of 67 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 53% | 44% | 7 of 67 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 17% | 23% | 58 of 67 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 19% | 22% | 42 of 67 |
| Vacant homes | 22% | 16% | 25 of 67 |
| Wood or propane heat | 7.5% | 9.9% | 42 of 67 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 1/yr | 3/yr | 55 of 67 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 15/yr | 15/yr | 26 of 67 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 27/yr | 38/yr | 52 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 Covington County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in April, May 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