Desha County, Arkansas · Arkansas City
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With 20% of homes built before 1960 and about 4 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Basements flood here mostly in April. Desha County averages 16.2 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Desha County spike on heavy-rain days, about 16.2 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Desha County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 5.35 inches, and about 29 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
5% of occupied homes in Desha County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Arkansas county median of 10.9%.
With 123 muggy nights a year, mold in Desha County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
Desha County covers 741 square miles of southeast Arkansas, with about 10,786 residents and 5,799 homes. Besides Arkansas City, the county seat, the biggest communities are Dumas, McGehee and Mitchellville. The county's median home was built in 1977.
54/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Desha County ranks 29 of 75 Arkansas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Desha County ranks highest compared with other Arkansas counties.
Desha County is milder than most of Arkansas, but not mild enough to skip winterizing. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 4 nights a year at or below 20°F (53rd of 75) and 32 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 7 days below freezing (ending February 2021), and the low bottomed out near 7°F on December 23, 2022.
Expect the hardest freezes in January, inside a season that runs midwinter. That's when an outdoor spigot left connected to a hose, or a pipe in a crawl space, is most likely to split.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Nov 18 and the last spring freeze around Mar 2.
Rainfall is about average for Arkansas. The county gets about 58.5 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 16.2 days of an inch or more (46th of 75). Those downpours cluster in March, April and December, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 5.35 inches on March 10, 2016. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 10.43 inches (through March 11, 2016).
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 29 times a year here. They're the main driver of ice dams and of water working its way through foundation cracks in late winter.
Housing
Arkansas's 75 counties range widely in housing age; Desha ranks 9th, with 57% of its homes built before 1980.
20% were built before 1960. Homes from that era often still have galvanized steel supply pipe, which rusts from the inside until it pinholes, and cast iron drains that crack with age. Slow leaks behind walls are a common start to water damage in these houses.
About 25% 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 12% 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.
21% 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 43% 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 123 times a year here, above the Arkansas county median of 105. 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 Desha County's occupied homes: 34% utility gas, 61% electric, 5% 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 Desha County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Desha gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. Phillips County has the oldest housing nearby, with 66% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Desha | Arkansas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 20% | 15% | 15 of 75 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 57% | 46% | 9 of 75 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 18% | 23% | 61 of 75 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 12% | 15% | 54 of 75 |
| Vacant homes | 21% | 18% | 27 of 75 |
| Wood or propane heat | 4.6% | 11% | 65 of 75 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 4/yr | 6/yr | 53 of 75 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 16/yr | 17/yr | 46 of 75 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 29/yr | 48/yr | 74 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 Desha County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in March, 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