Hardin County, Illinois · Elizabethtown
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With 33% of homes built before 1960 and about 18 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 13.2 times a year here, most often in March. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Hardin County gets about 13.2 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Hardin County, 3.43 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
32% of occupied homes in Hardin County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Illinois county median of 16.5%.
About 79 nights a year here stay at 65°F or warmer, so basements and crawl spaces can grow mold even without a leak.
Local risk profile
With 2,337 homes and around 3,605 residents, Hardin County is 177 square miles of southeast Illinois. Elizabethtown is the county seat; Rosiclare and Cave-In-Rock are the next largest communities. Half the homes here were built before 1974, half after.
47/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Hardin County ranks 66 of 102 Illinois counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Hardin County ranks highest compared with other Illinois counties.
Winters here are on the gentler end for Illinois, and pipes still freeze. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 18 nights a year at or below 20°F (98th of 102) and 76 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 13 days below freezing (ending January 2018), and the low bottomed out near -5°F on February 19, 2015.
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.
Freezing nights typically start around Nov 2 and end around Mar 30.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Illinois. The county gets about 51.2 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 13.2 days of an inch or more (5th of 102). Those downpours cluster in February, March and July, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 3.43 inches on September 28, 2024. The worst three-day stretch dropped 6.21 inches, ending September 29, 2024, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 64 days a year swing from below freezing at night to above freezing by day. Those freeze-thaw cycles feed ice dams on roofs, open cracks in foundations and driveways, and stress pipes that are already marginal.
Housing
59% of homes in Hardin County predate 1980, below the Illinois county median of 65.9%, which ranks 73rd of Illinois's 102 counties.
Housing age is mixed: 33% of homes are pre-1960 and 10% are 2000 or newer. Ask any plumber which era your house is from and you'll know which failures to watch for.
32% date from 1980 to 1999, the window when polybutylene, a gray flexible plastic supply pipe, was used in some homes. It's prone to leaks at the fittings, so it's worth checking for in a house from those years.
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.
With 34% of homes empty at survey time, landlords and seasonal owners should shut off the main or schedule checks in winter. An unheated vacant house is also where many policies limit freeze coverage.
Beyond water
Hardin County averages 79 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in July. The EPA recommends keeping indoor humidity below 60%, ideally 30 to 50%. Basements can pass 60% on their own in summer, so a dehumidifier matters even without a leak, and anything wet should be dried within 24 to 48 hours.
Mold remediation: what to expectBy main heating fuel, Hardin County homes break down as 44% utility gas, 24% electric, 28% propane and 3% wood. Wood and propane heat are 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 Hardin County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Gallatin and Saline get more pipe-freeze nights than Hardin. Gallatin County has the oldest housing nearby, with 72% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Hardin | Illinois median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 33% | 38% | 74 of 102 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 59% | 66% | 73 of 102 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 9.9% | 15% | 83 of 102 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 18% | 5.6% | 5 of 102 |
| Vacant homes | 34% | 11% | 4 of 102 |
| Wood or propane heat | 32% | 17% | 11 of 102 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 18/yr | 35/yr | 98 of 102 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 13/yr | 8.4/yr | 5 of 102 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 64/yr | 81/yr | 97 of 102 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 79/yr | 51/yr | 5 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 Hardin County: freezing from December to February, heavy rain in February, March and July.
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