Franklin County, Alabama · Russellville
Water spreading, a burst pipe, sewage, mold or smoke? Call to be connected with a restoration company that serves Russellville, Red Bay and Phil Campbell. Start the steps below while you wait.
Answered 24/7 by a participating local provider. We're a referral service and don't do the work ourselves. How it works
Start here
Pick the closest match. These steps limit the damage and protect your insurance claim. Skip anything that isn't safe.
Franklin County averages 7 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly December to January, and 15% of its homes predate 1960.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 17.8 times a year here, most often in February. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Franklin County gets about 17.8 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 54 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
11% of occupied homes in Franklin County heat mainly with wood or propane, close to the Alabama county median of 9.9%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 89 times a year in Franklin County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
With 14,002 homes and around 31,966 residents, Franklin County is 634 square miles of northwest Alabama. Besides Russellville, the county seat, the biggest communities are Red Bay, Phil Campbell and Hodges. The county's median home was built in 1983.
67/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Franklin County ranks 7 of 67 Alabama counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Franklin County ranks highest compared with other Alabama counties.
Franklin is on the colder side of Alabama for pipes. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 7 nights a year at or below 20°F (1st of 67) and 56 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
On January 17, 2024 the low fell to about 2°F, and in the stretch ending February 2021 the county went 5 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
Most freezing nights fall from December to January, 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 10 and the last spring freeze around Mar 27.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Alabama. About 17.8 days a year bring an inch or more (3rd of 67), most often in February, out of 62.6 inches of total precipitation. On August 31, 2021, 5.06 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 6.43 inches (through February 22, 2019).
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 54 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 46% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Franklin near the middle of Alabama's 67 counties.
The mix runs from 15% built before 1960 to 22% built since 2000, so older neighborhoods bring aging pipe while newer subdivisions bring failed appliance lines and water heaters.
About 32% of homes went up between 1980 and 1999. Some houses from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s were plumbed with polybutylene, a gray plastic pipe known for failing at fittings. A plumber can tell you in a few minutes whether you have it.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 15% of the housing here. Water lines in the underbelly depend on intact skirting and working heat tape, and they're usually the first to freeze in a cold snap.
Beyond water
About 89 nights a year in Franklin County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (59th of 67 counties). February 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 Franklin County's occupied homes: 32% utility gas, 57% electric, 10% 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 Franklin County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Franklin gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. It also has the most heavy-rain days in its area. Marion County has the oldest housing nearby, with 54% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Franklin | Alabama median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 15% | 16% | 41 of 67 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 46% | 44% | 26 of 67 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 22% | 23% | 36 of 67 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 15% | 22% | 48 of 67 |
| Vacant homes | 15% | 16% | 40 of 67 |
| Wood or propane heat | 11% | 9.9% | 32 of 67 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 7/yr | 3/yr | 1 of 67 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 18/yr | 15/yr | 3 of 67 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 54/yr | 38/yr | 4 of 67 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 89/yr | 112/yr | 59 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 Franklin County: freezing from December to January, heavy rain in February, March 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