Henry County, Alabama · Abbeville
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With 17% of homes built before 1960 and about 1 hard-freeze night a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Basements flood here mostly in January. Henry County averages 12.7 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Henry County spike on heavy-rain days, about 12.7 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Henry County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 9.11 inches.
7% of occupied homes in Henry County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Alabama county median of 9.9%.
With 136 muggy nights a year, mold in Henry County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 17,647 people live in Henry County, 562 square miles in southeast Alabama, in roughly 9,215 homes. The county seat is Abbeville, and Headland, Newville and Haleburg round out the largest towns. Half the homes here were built before 1982, half after.
38/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Henry County ranks 54 of 67 Alabama counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Henry County ranks highest compared with other Alabama counties.
Winters here are on the gentler end for Alabama, and pipes still freeze. It averaged 17 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.
Hard freezes are uncommon here, about 17 nights a year at or below 32°F, and that's exactly why they do damage: pipes in attics, exterior walls and slab-edge plumbing are rarely insulated. The coldest night in the record was about 15°F on December 24, 2022.
Henry gets fewer downpours than most Alabama counties, but they still fill basements. The county gets about 55.9 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 12.7 days of an inch or more (66th of 67). Those downpours cluster in January, April and December, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 9.11 inches on September 17, 2020. The worst three-day stretch dropped 11.84 inches, ending September 17, 2020, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
Housing
Alabama's 67 counties range widely in housing age; Henry ranks 21st, with 47% of its homes built before 1980.
Housing age is mixed: 17% of homes are pre-1960 and 25% are 2000 or newer. Ask any plumber which era your house is from and you'll know which failures to watch for.
About 28% 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 22% 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.
With 23% of homes empty at survey time, landlords and seasonal owners should shut off the main or schedule checks in winter. An unheated vacant house is also where many policies limit freeze coverage.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 136 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 Henry County's occupied homes: 3% utility gas, 89% electric, 6% propane and under 1% wood. Heating equipment, cooking and electrical failures cause most home fires nationally. Even a small kitchen fire can leave soot through the whole house, because smoke follows air currents into closets, ducts and attic space.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Henry County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Henry gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. All of its neighbors see more heavy-rain days. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Henry | Alabama median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 17% | 16% | 22 of 67 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 47% | 44% | 21 of 67 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 25% | 23% | 25 of 67 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 22% | 22% | 34 of 67 |
| Vacant homes | 23% | 16% | 20 of 67 |
| Wood or propane heat | 6.8% | 9.9% | 47 of 67 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 1/yr | 3/yr | 55 of 67 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 13/yr | 15/yr | 66 of 67 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 17/yr | 38/yr | 64 of 67 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 136/yr | 112/yr | 6 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 Henry 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