Clay County, Illinois · Louisville
Water spreading, a burst pipe, sewage, mold or smoke? Call to be connected with a restoration company that serves Flora, Louisville and Clay City. Start the steps below while you wait.
Answered 24/7 by a participating local provider. We're a referral service and don't do the work ourselves. How it works
Start here
Pick the closest match. These steps limit the damage and protect your insurance claim. Skip anything that isn't safe.
Pipes freeze in Clay County on about 24 nights a year, mostly December to February. Older homes, 38% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 12.6 times a year here, most often in July. 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 12.6 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Clay County, 3.29 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
27% of occupied homes in Clay County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Illinois county median of 16.5%.
With 68 muggy nights a year, mold in Clay County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 13,052 people live in Clay County, 468 square miles in southeast Illinois, in roughly 6,165 homes. Louisville is the county seat; Flora, Clay City and Xenia are the next largest communities. The county's median home was built in 1972.
55/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Clay County ranks 32 of 102 Illinois counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Clay County ranks highest compared with other Illinois counties.
Clay County is milder than most of Illinois, but not mild enough to skip winterizing. It averaged 85 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 24 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 102 Illinois counties that's 76th.
On December 23, 2022 the low fell to about -7°F, and in the stretch ending January 2018 the county went 14 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
Most freezing nights fall from December to February, peaking in January. Disconnect garden hoses and shut off outdoor spigots before the first hard frost, and keep the heat at 55°F or higher if you'll be away.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Oct 25 and the last spring freeze around Apr 9.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Illinois. The county gets about 48.7 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 12.6 days of an inch or more (8th of 102). Those downpours cluster in April, July and August, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 3.29 inches on September 9, 2018. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 6.19 inches (through August 16, 2016).
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 69 times a year here. They're the main driver of ice dams and of water working its way through foundation cracks in late winter.
Housing
Illinois's 102 counties range widely in housing age; Clay ranks 77th, with 58% of its homes built before 1980.
20% of homes were built in 2000 or later, more than in most of Illinois. Newer plumbing rarely corrodes, so damage here tends to come from appliance supply lines, water heaters, sump pumps and storms.
About 23% 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 18% 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.
14% 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 68 times a year here, above the Illinois county median of 51. 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 42% utility gas, 31% electric, 23% propane and 4% wood. Wood and propane heat are more common here than in most Illinois 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
Effingham, Fayette, Jasper and Marion get more pipe-freeze nights than Clay. It also has the most heavy-rain days in its area. Richland County has the oldest housing nearby, with 65% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Clay | Illinois median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 38% | 38% | 54 of 102 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 58% | 66% | 77 of 102 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 20% | 15% | 22 of 102 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 18% | 5.6% | 8 of 102 |
| Vacant homes | 14% | 11% | 24 of 102 |
| Wood or propane heat | 27% | 17% | 18 of 102 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 24/yr | 35/yr | 76 of 102 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 13/yr | 8.4/yr | 8 of 102 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 69/yr | 81/yr | 80 of 102 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 68/yr | 51/yr | 28 of 102 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Illinois 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 December to February, heavy rain in April, July and August.
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