Gordon County, Georgia · Calhoun
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With 10% of homes built before 1960 and about 6 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Basements flood here mostly in February. Gordon County averages 13.7 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Gordon County spike on heavy-rain days, about 13.7 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Gordon County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 5.02 inches, and about 54 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
11% of occupied homes in Gordon County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Georgia county median of 7.1%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 81 times a year in Gordon County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
About 59,100 people live in Gordon County, 356 square miles in northwest Georgia, in roughly 23,562 homes. Calhoun is the county seat; Fairmount, Resaca and Plainville are the next largest communities. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1987.
58/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Gordon County ranks 44 of 159 Georgia counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Gordon County ranks highest compared with other Georgia counties.
Gordon is on the colder side of Georgia for pipes. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 6 nights a year at or below 20°F (9th of 159) and 55 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
Expect the hardest freezes in January, inside a season that runs December to January. 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 11 and the last spring freeze around Mar 26.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Georgia. About 13.7 days a year bring an inch or more (28th of 159), most often in February, out of 56 inches of total precipitation. On September 27, 2024, 5.02 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 7.57 inches (through September 28, 2024).
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 54 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 Gordon County predate 1980, close to the Georgia county median of 38.4%, which ranks 65th of Georgia's 159 counties.
Older and newer homes sit side by side here: 10% predate 1960 and 29% are from 2000 or later. Corroded pipe is the typical failure in the first group, burst supply hoses in the second.
The 1980s and 1990s account for 30% of the county's homes. If yours is from those decades, look under the sinks and at the water heater for gray plastic pipe stamped PB, which is polybutylene and leak-prone.
10% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, below the Georgia county median of 20.9%. Their water lines run under the floor behind the skirting, so a torn skirt or failed heat tape freezes them faster than lines in a site-built house.
Beyond water
Gordon County averages 81 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in February. 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 Gordon County it's 20% utility gas, 68% electric, 10% propane and 1% wood. Propane heat is more common here than the state median. Have chimneys swept and fuel-burning appliances serviced each fall, and keep three feet clear around stoves and space heaters.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Gordon County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Pickens gets more pipe-freeze nights than Gordon. Floyd County has the oldest housing nearby, with 54% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Gordon | Georgia median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 9.8% | 15% | 115 of 159 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 41% | 38% | 65 of 159 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 29% | 27% | 67 of 159 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 9.5% | 21% | 121 of 159 |
| Vacant homes | 9.4% | 14% | 119 of 159 |
| Wood or propane heat | 11% | 7.1% | 53 of 159 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 6/yr | 2/yr | 9 of 159 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 14/yr | 12/yr | 28 of 159 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 54/yr | 29/yr | 11 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 Gordon County: freezing from December to January, heavy rain in February, March 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