Ashley County, Arkansas · Hamburg
Water spreading, a burst pipe, sewage, mold or smoke? Call to be connected with a restoration company that serves Crossett, Hamburg and North Crossett. 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.
With 21% of homes built before 1960 and about 3 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 17.3 times a year here, most often in April. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Ashley County gets about 17.3 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 30 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
8% of occupied homes in Ashley County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Arkansas county median of 10.9%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 123 times a year in Ashley County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
Ashley County covers 925 square miles of southern Arkansas, with about 18,429 residents and 9,392 homes. The county seat is Hamburg, and Crossett, North Crossett and West Crossett round out the largest towns. Half the homes here were built before 1977, half after.
57/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Ashley County ranks 21 of 75 Arkansas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Ashley County ranks highest compared with other Arkansas counties.
Winters here are on the gentler end for Arkansas, and pipes still freeze. From 2015–2024 it averaged 3 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 31 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 68th of 75 counties.
The longest cold spell was straight 3 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in February 2021. The coldest night reached about 8°F on December 24, 2022. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
The freeze season here runs midwinter, with January the coldest. If you travel then, leave the thermostat at 55°F or above and open sink cabinets on outside walls.
Freezing nights typically start around Nov 16 and end around Feb 28.
Rainfall is about average for Arkansas. The county gets about 59.4 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 17.3 days of an inch or more (32nd of 75). Those downpours cluster in January, March and April, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 7.08 inches on March 10, 2016. The worst three-day stretch dropped 14.41 inches, ending March 11, 2016, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 30 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
Arkansas's 75 counties range widely in housing age; Ashley ranks 12th, with 56% of its homes built before 1980.
Before 1960 is when 21% of these homes went up. Galvanized supply lines and cast iron drains were standard then, and after 60-plus years both corrode and crack, often out of sight inside a wall or under a slab.
The 1980s and 1990s account for 26% of the county's homes. If yours is from those decades, look under the sinks and at the water heater for gray plastic pipe stamped PB, which is polybutylene and leak-prone.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 21% 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 22% 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
Ashley County averages 123 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in March. The EPA recommends keeping indoor humidity below 60%, ideally 30 to 50%. Basements can pass 60% on their own in summer, so a dehumidifier matters even without a leak, and anything wet should be dried within 24 to 48 hours.
Mold remediation: what to expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Ashley County it's 36% utility gas, 55% electric, 6% propane and 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 Ashley County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Ashley gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. All of its neighbors see more heavy-rain days. Bradley County has the oldest housing nearby, with 57% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Ashley | Arkansas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 21% | 15% | 9 of 75 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 56% | 46% | 12 of 75 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 18% | 23% | 60 of 75 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 21% | 15% | 16 of 75 |
| Vacant homes | 22% | 18% | 24 of 75 |
| Wood or propane heat | 7.5% | 11% | 55 of 75 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 3/yr | 6/yr | 68 of 75 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 17/yr | 17/yr | 32 of 75 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 30/yr | 48/yr | 71 of 75 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 123/yr | 105/yr | 3 of 75 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Arkansas county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Ashley County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in January, March and April.
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