Quitman County, Georgia · Georgetown
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With 12% of homes built before 1960 and about 1 hard-freeze night a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 13.6 times a year here, most often in January. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
12% 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 Quitman County, 8.35 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
25% of occupied homes in Quitman 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 125 times a year in Quitman County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
Quitman County covers 151 square miles of southwest Georgia, with about 2,264 residents and 1,767 homes. Georgetown is the county seat; Georgetown-Quitman County is the next largest community. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1986.
52/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Quitman County ranks 71 of 159 Georgia counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Quitman County ranks highest compared with other Georgia counties.
For frozen pipes, Quitman County is a typical Georgia county, which is still plenty. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 1 night a year at or below 20°F (85th of 159) and 22 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
With only about 22 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 13°F, on December 24, 2022.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Georgia. The county gets about 53.9 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 13.6 days of an inch or more (32nd of 159). Those downpours cluster in January, April and December, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 8.35 inches on September 17, 2020. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 9.95 inches (through September 17, 2020).
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 22 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
Roughly 37% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Quitman near the middle of Georgia's 159 counties.
Older and newer homes sit side by side here: 12% predate 1960 and 25% are from 2000 or later. Corroded pipe is the typical failure in the first group, burst supply hoses in the second.
About 39% 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 48% 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.
The Census counted 40% of homes as vacant, above the Georgia county median of 14%. Empty houses are where a small leak turns into a large claim, because nobody is there to hear it.
Beyond water
About 125 nights a year in Quitman County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (59th of 159 counties). January 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 expectMain heating fuel in Quitman County's occupied homes: 3% utility gas, 65% electric, 25% 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 Quitman County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Quitman gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. It also has the most heavy-rain days in its area. Randolph County has the oldest housing nearby, with 47% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Quitman | Georgia median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 12% | 15% | 100 of 159 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 37% | 38% | 87 of 159 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 25% | 27% | 93 of 159 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 48% | 21% | 4 of 159 |
| Vacant homes | 40% | 14% | 2 of 159 |
| Wood or propane heat | 25% | 7.1% | 14 of 159 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 1/yr | 2/yr | 85 of 159 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 14/yr | 12/yr | 32 of 159 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 22/yr | 29/yr | 97 of 159 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 125/yr | 112/yr | 59 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 Quitman 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