Candler County, Georgia · Metter
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Candler County averages 0 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly midwinter, and 18% of its homes predate 1960.
Basements flood here mostly in April. Candler County averages 12.1 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Candler County gets about 12.1 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 21 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
6% of occupied homes in Candler County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Georgia county median of 7.1%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 128 times a year in Candler County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
About 11,043 people live in Candler County, 243 square miles in eastern Georgia, in roughly 4,664 homes. The county seat is Metter, and Pulaski is the other large town. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1987.
47/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Candler County ranks 98 of 159 Georgia counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Candler County ranks highest compared with other Georgia counties.
Candler County is milder than most of Georgia, but not mild enough to skip winterizing. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 0 nights a year at or below 20°F (117th of 159) and 21 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
With only about 21 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 15°F, on December 25, 2022.
Rainfall is about average for Georgia. The county gets about 49.1 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 12.1 days of an inch or more (78th of 159). Those downpours cluster in January, April and September, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 7.54 inches on August 6, 2024. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 10.56 inches (through August 7, 2024).
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 21 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
41% of homes in Candler County predate 1980, close to the Georgia county median of 38.4%, which ranks 66th of Georgia's 159 counties.
Housing age is mixed: 18% of homes are pre-1960 and 20% are 2000 or newer. Ask any plumber which era your house is from and you'll know which failures to watch for.
40% 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.
Renters occupy 38% 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
About 128 nights a year in Candler County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (48th of 159 counties). August is the wettest month. 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 expectBy main heating fuel, Candler County homes break down as 3% utility gas, 90% electric, 6% propane and under 1% wood. Fires here are likelier to start in the kitchen or the wiring than in the furnace. After any fire, keep the HVAC off until ducts are checked, or soot will travel through the house.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Candler County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Emanuel gets more pipe-freeze nights than Candler. Emanuel County has the oldest housing nearby, with 46% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Candler | Georgia median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 18% | 15% | 53 of 159 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 41% | 38% | 66 of 159 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 20% | 27% | 124 of 159 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 33% | 21% | 30 of 159 |
| Vacant homes | 11% | 14% | 105 of 159 |
| Wood or propane heat | 6.3% | 7.1% | 90 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 | 78 of 159 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 21/yr | 29/yr | 100 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 Candler County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in January, April and September.
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