Ohio County, Indiana · Rising Sun
Water spreading, a burst pipe, sewage, mold or smoke? Call to be connected with a restoration company that serves Rising Sun. 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 Ohio County on about 22 nights a year, mostly December to March. Older homes, 35% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in March. Ohio County averages 9.2 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Ohio County spike on heavy-rain days, about 9.2 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Ohio County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 3.01 inches, and about 70 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
26% of occupied homes in Ohio County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Indiana county median of 17%.
About 61 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 2,769 homes and around 5,999 residents, Ohio County is 86 square miles of southeast Indiana. Rising Sun is the county seat. The county's median home was built in 1978.
48/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Ohio County ranks 54 of 92 Indiana counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Ohio County ranks highest compared with other Indiana counties.
Ohio County is milder than most of Indiana, but not mild enough to skip winterizing. From 2015–2024 it averaged 22 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 84 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 84th of 92 counties.
On February 21, 2015 the low fell to about -10°F, and in the stretch ending January 2018 the county went 13 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
Most freezing nights fall from December to March, 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 Nov 5 and the last spring freeze around Apr 7.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Indiana. The county gets about 49.5 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 9.2 days of an inch or more (31st of 92). Those downpours cluster in February, March and April, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 3.01 inches on July 31, 2020. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 4.15 inches (through August 2, 2020).
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 70 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
52% of homes in Ohio County predate 1980, below the Indiana county median of 58.2%, which ranks 60th of Indiana's 92 counties.
Since 2000 the county has added enough housing that 25% of homes are that new. Modern PEX and copper rarely fail on their own; the leaks come from connections, appliances and storms.
23% 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.
8% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, above the Indiana county median of 6.4%. 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
About 61 nights a year in Ohio County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (9th of 92 counties). May 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 expectBy main heating fuel, Ohio County homes break down as 26% utility gas, 42% electric, 19% propane and 7% 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 Ohio County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Dearborn and Ripley get more pipe-freeze nights than Ohio. Ripley County has the oldest housing nearby, with 53% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Ohio | Indiana median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 35% | 35% | 46 of 92 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 52% | 58% | 60 of 92 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 25% | 18% | 14 of 92 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 7.7% | 6.4% | 35 of 92 |
| Vacant homes | 5.4% | 9.2% | 84 of 92 |
| Wood or propane heat | 26% | 17% | 24 of 92 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 22/yr | 33/yr | 84 of 92 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 9.2/yr | 7.8/yr | 31 of 92 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 70/yr | 84/yr | 88 of 92 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 61/yr | 38/yr | 9 of 92 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Indiana county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Ohio County: freezing from December to March, heavy rain in February, March 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