Macon County, Alabama · Tuskegee
Water spreading, a burst pipe, sewage, mold or smoke? Call to be connected with a restoration company that serves Tuskegee, Notasulga and Franklin. 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.
Pipes freeze in Macon County on about 2 nights a year, mostly January. Older homes, 16% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 14.5 times a year here, most often in January. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
Sewage backups in Macon County spike on heavy-rain days, about 14.5 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Roof leaks here come from summer downpours and, with about 30 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
18% of occupied homes in Macon County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Alabama county median of 9.9%.
With 121 muggy nights a year, mold in Macon County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
With 9,653 homes and around 18,691 residents, Macon County is 609 square miles of eastern Alabama. Besides Tuskegee, the county seat, the biggest communities are Notasulga, Franklin and Shorter. Half the homes here were built before 1979, half after.
42/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Macon County ranks 48 of 67 Alabama counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Macon County ranks highest compared with other Alabama counties.
Pipe-freeze risk in Macon County sits near the middle of the state. It averaged 30 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 2 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 37th.
Expect the hardest freezes in January, inside a season that runs January. That's when an outdoor spigot left connected to a hose, or a pipe in a crawl space, is most likely to split.
Freezing nights typically start around Nov 22 and end around Mar 6.
Macon gets fewer downpours than most Alabama counties, but they still fill basements. About 14.5 days a year bring an inch or more (49th of 67), most often in January, out of 56.8 inches of total precipitation. On September 17, 2020, 6.45 inches fell in a single day. The worst three-day stretch dropped 7.8 inches, ending December 25, 2015, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 30 days a year swing from below freezing at night to above freezing by day. Those freeze-thaw cycles feed ice dams on roofs, open cracks in foundations and driveways, and stress pipes that are already marginal.
Housing
Alabama's 67 counties range widely in housing age; Macon ranks 9th, with 52% of its homes built before 1980.
The mix runs from 16% built before 1960 to 16% 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.
Here 17% 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.
25% of homes were vacant at survey time. A leak in an empty rental or seasonal house can run for days before anyone notices, which is why those losses tend to be larger.
Renters occupy 39% 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 121 times a year here, close to 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Macon County it's 29% utility gas, 50% electric, 18% propane and under 1% wood. Propane heat is above the Alabama norm. Annual chimney and vent inspection, which the NFPA recommends, is one of the most effective fire-prevention habits for these homes.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Macon County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Tallapoosa gets more pipe-freeze nights than Macon. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Macon | Alabama median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 16% | 16% | 31 of 67 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 52% | 44% | 9 of 67 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 16% | 23% | 63 of 67 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 17% | 22% | 44 of 67 |
| Vacant homes | 25% | 16% | 15 of 67 |
| Wood or propane heat | 18% | 9.9% | 12 of 67 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 2/yr | 3/yr | 37 of 67 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 15/yr | 15/yr | 49 of 67 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 30/yr | 38/yr | 44 of 67 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 121/yr | 112/yr | 24 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 Macon County: freezing from January, 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