Clay County, Georgia · Fort Gaines
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Pipes freeze in Clay County on about 1 night a year, mostly midwinter. Older homes, 18% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 13.4 times a year here, most often in January. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Clay County gets about 13.4 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Clay County, 7.7 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
10% of occupied homes in Clay County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Georgia county median of 7.1%.
With 134 muggy nights a year, mold in Clay County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 2,850 people live in Clay County, 195 square miles in southwest Georgia, in roughly 1,981 homes. Fort Gaines is the county seat; Bluffton is the next largest community. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1988.
63/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Clay County ranks 18 of 159 Georgia counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Clay County ranks highest compared with other Georgia counties.
For frozen pipes, Clay County is a typical Georgia county, which is still plenty. It averaged 18 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 1 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 159 Georgia counties that's 85th.
With only about 18 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 24, 2022.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Georgia. The county gets about 53.8 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 13.4 days of an inch or more (36th of 159). Those downpours cluster in January, April and December, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 7.7 inches on September 17, 2020. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 9.84 inches (through September 17, 2020).
Housing
Georgia's 159 counties range widely in housing age; Clay ranks 95th, with 35% of its homes built before 1980.
Older and newer homes sit side by side here: 18% predate 1960 and 23% are from 2000 or later. Corroded pipe is the typical failure in the first group, burst supply hoses in the second.
About 42% 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 40% 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.
38% 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.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 134 times a year here, above the Georgia county median of 112. 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 expectBy main heating fuel, Clay County homes break down as 2% utility gas, 87% electric, 10% propane and under 1% wood. Propane heat is 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 Clay County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Clay gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. Calhoun County has the oldest housing nearby, with 54% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Clay | Georgia median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 18% | 15% | 56 of 159 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 35% | 38% | 95 of 159 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 23% | 27% | 104 of 159 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 40% | 21% | 7 of 159 |
| Vacant homes | 38% | 14% | 3 of 159 |
| Wood or propane heat | 10% | 7.1% | 59 of 159 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 1/yr | 2/yr | 85 of 159 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 13/yr | 12/yr | 36 of 159 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 18/yr | 29/yr | 110 of 159 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 134/yr | 112/yr | 24 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 Clay County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in January, 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