Chattooga County, Georgia · Summerville
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Pipes freeze in Chattooga County on about 5 nights a year, mostly January. Older homes, 28% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in February. Chattooga County averages 14.5 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
28% 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.
Chattooga County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 4.25 inches, and about 48 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
14% of occupied homes in Chattooga County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Georgia county median of 7.1%.
With 81 muggy nights a year, mold in Chattooga County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 25,036 people live in Chattooga County, 313 square miles in northwest Georgia, in roughly 10,882 homes. Besides Summerville, the county seat, the biggest communities are Trion, Menlo and Lyerly. Half the homes here were built before 1976, half after.
80/100 Water Damage Risk Index: High Chattooga County ranks 1 of 159 Georgia counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Chattooga County ranks highest compared with other Georgia counties.
Chattooga County gets more hard-freeze nights than most of Georgia. From 2015–2024 it averaged 5 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 49 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 14th of 159 counties.
The freeze season here runs January, 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 12 and end around Mar 21.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Georgia. Of roughly 58.5 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 14.5 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 18th of 159. January, February and December see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 4.25 inches, September 27, 2024. The worst three-day stretch dropped 6.29 inches, ending September 28, 2024, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 48 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
Roughly 57% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Chattooga among the oldest housing stocks of Georgia's 159 counties.
In Chattooga County 28% of homes are older than 1960. If yours is one of them and the plumbing has never been replaced, expect galvanized steel supply pipe and cast iron drain lines, the two materials most likely to fail quietly.
About 29% 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 18% 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
About 81 nights a year in Chattooga County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (143rd of 159 counties). February is the wettest month. 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 Chattooga County it's 27% utility gas, 58% electric, 11% propane and 2% wood. Wood and propane heat are more common here than in most Georgia counties. Heating equipment is one of the leading causes of home fires nationally, and the NFPA recommends having chimneys and vents inspected every year.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Chattooga County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Walker gets more pipe-freeze nights than Chattooga. It also has the most heavy-rain days in its area. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Chattooga | Georgia median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 28% | 15% | 5 of 159 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 57% | 38% | 2 of 159 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 15% | 27% | 156 of 159 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 18% | 21% | 91 of 159 |
| Vacant homes | 16% | 14% | 65 of 159 |
| Wood or propane heat | 14% | 7.1% | 41 of 159 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 5/yr | 2/yr | 14 of 159 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 15/yr | 12/yr | 18 of 159 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 48/yr | 29/yr | 20 of 159 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 81/yr | 112/yr | 143 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 Chattooga County: freezing from January, heavy rain in January, February 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