Houston County, Alabama · Dothan
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Pipes freeze in Houston County on about 1 night a year, mostly midwinter. Older homes, 14% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in December. Houston County averages 13.9 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Houston County spike on heavy-rain days, about 13.9 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Roof leaks here come from summer downpours. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
1% of occupied homes in Houston County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Alabama county median of 9.9%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 144 times a year in Houston County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
Houston County covers 580 square miles of southeast Alabama, with about 108,140 residents and 50,158 homes. Dothan is the county seat; Taylor, Ashford and Cowarts are the next largest communities. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1985.
31/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Houston County ranks 63 of 67 Alabama counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Houston County ranks highest compared with other Alabama counties.
Winters here are on the gentler end for Alabama, and pipes still freeze. It averaged 14 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 14 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 16°F on December 24, 2022.
Houston gets fewer downpours than most Alabama counties, but they still fill basements. Of roughly 57.7 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 13.9 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 59th of 67. January, April and December see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 8.39 inches, September 17, 2020. The worst three-day stretch dropped 12.72 inches, ending September 17, 2020, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
Housing
Roughly 43% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Houston near the middle of Alabama's 67 counties.
27% of homes were built in 2000 or later, more than in most of Alabama. Newer plumbing rarely corrodes, so damage here tends to come from appliance supply lines, water heaters, sump pumps and storms.
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.
13% 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.
Renters occupy 36% 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
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 144 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 expectBy main heating fuel, Houston County homes break down as 5% utility gas, 92% electric, 1% 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 Houston County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Houston gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. Geneva County has the oldest housing nearby, with 52% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Houston | Alabama median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 14% | 16% | 45 of 67 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 43% | 44% | 36 of 67 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 27% | 23% | 19 of 67 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 13% | 22% | 54 of 67 |
| Vacant homes | 14% | 16% | 43 of 67 |
| Wood or propane heat | 1.1% | 9.9% | 67 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 | 59 of 67 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 14/yr | 38/yr | 65 of 67 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 144/yr | 112/yr | 3 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 Houston 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