Toombs County, Georgia · Lyons
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With 13% of homes built before 1960 and about 0 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
January brings the most downpours to Toombs County, part of 12.1 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Toombs County gets about 12.1 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Toombs County, 7.17 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
3% of occupied homes in Toombs 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 132 times a year in Toombs County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
With 12,103 homes and around 27,102 residents, Toombs County is 364 square miles of eastern Georgia. Lyons is the county seat; Vidalia, Santa Claus and Ohoopee are the next largest communities. Half the homes here were built before 1984, half after.
41/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Toombs County ranks 128 of 159 Georgia counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Toombs County ranks highest compared with other Georgia counties.
Winters here are on the gentler end for Georgia, and pipes still freeze. It averaged 19 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 0 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 117th.
Hard freezes are uncommon here, about 19 nights a year at or below 32°F, and that's exactly why they do damage: pipes in attics, exterior walls and slab-edge plumbing are rarely insulated. The coldest night in the record was about 17°F on December 25, 2022.
Rainfall is about average for Georgia. The county gets about 49.6 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, February and April, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 7.17 inches on August 6, 2024. The worst three-day stretch dropped 8.82 inches, ending August 7, 2024, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
Housing
Roughly 42% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Toombs near the middle of Georgia's 159 counties.
The mix runs from 13% built before 1960 to 21% built since 2000, so older neighborhoods bring aging pipe while newer subdivisions bring failed appliance lines and water heaters.
About 37% 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.
26% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, above 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.
Renters occupy 40% 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
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 132 times a year here, above the Georgia county median of 112. 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 Toombs County's occupied homes: 7% utility gas, 89% electric, 2% propane and under 1% wood. Most homes here heat with gas or electricity, so cooking and electrical faults are the likelier fire sources. Even a contained kitchen fire can send soot through the ductwork to every room.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Toombs 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 Toombs. Emanuel County has the oldest housing nearby, with 46% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Toombs | Georgia median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 13% | 15% | 89 of 159 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 42% | 38% | 57 of 159 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 21% | 27% | 118 of 159 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 26% | 21% | 60 of 159 |
| Vacant homes | 14% | 14% | 80 of 159 |
| Wood or propane heat | 3.1% | 7.1% | 124 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 | 19/yr | 29/yr | 107 of 159 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 132/yr | 112/yr | 33 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 Toombs County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in January, February and April.
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