Berrien County, Georgia · Nashville
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Berrien County averages 0 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly midwinter, and 17% of its homes predate 1960.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 11.5 times a year here, most often in January. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
17% of homes here predate 1960, when clay and cast iron sewer laterals were standard. Roots and cracks in those lines are a common cause of backups.
In Berrien County, 4.34 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
3% of occupied homes in Berrien County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Georgia county median of 7.1%.
About 128 nights a year here stay at 65°F or warmer, so basements and crawl spaces can grow mold even without a leak.
Local risk profile
With 8,099 homes and around 18,352 residents, Berrien County is 453 square miles of southern Georgia. The county seat is Nashville, and Enigma, Ray City and Alapaha round out the largest towns. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1989.
41/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Berrien County ranks 123 of 159 Georgia counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Berrien County ranks highest compared with other Georgia counties.
Berrien County is milder than most of Georgia, but not mild enough to skip winterizing. From 2015–2024 it averaged 0 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 17 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 117th of 159 counties.
With only about 17 freezing nights a year, many homes here aren't built for cold, so a single arctic outbreak can burst pipes across the county. The record low in this data was about 18°F, on December 25, 2022.
Berrien gets fewer downpours than most Georgia counties, but they still fill basements. Of roughly 50.9 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 11.5 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 109th of 159. January, February and April see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 4.34 inches, April 25, 2021. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 5.6 inches (through September 27, 2024).
Housing
Roughly 37% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Berrien near the middle of Georgia's 159 counties.
The mix runs from 17% built before 1960 to 31% built since 2000, so older neighborhoods bring aging pipe while newer subdivisions bring failed appliance lines and water heaters.
33% 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.
Here 33% 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.
Beyond water
Berrien County averages 128 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in August. Keep indoor humidity under 60%, as the EPA advises, and dry any leak within 24 to 48 hours; in a humid month a wet basement left alone won't dry by itself.
Mold remediation: what to expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Berrien County it's 5% utility gas, 91% electric, 2% 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 Berrien County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Tift gets more pipe-freeze nights than Berrien. Irwin County has the oldest housing nearby, with 47% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Berrien | Georgia median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 17% | 15% | 60 of 159 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 37% | 38% | 88 of 159 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 31% | 27% | 59 of 159 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 33% | 21% | 29 of 159 |
| Vacant homes | 13% | 14% | 91 of 159 |
| Wood or propane heat | 3.2% | 7.1% | 119 of 159 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 0/yr | 2/yr | 117 of 159 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 12/yr | 12/yr | 109 of 159 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 17/yr | 29/yr | 119 of 159 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 128/yr | 112/yr | 48 of 159 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Georgia county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Berrien County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in January, February 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