Knott County, Kentucky · Hindman
Water spreading, a burst pipe, sewage, mold or smoke? Call to be connected with a restoration company that serves Hindman and Pippa Passes. 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 Knott County on about 18 nights a year, mostly November to February. Older homes, 19% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 8.6 times a year here, most often in February. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
Sewage backups in Knott County spike on heavy-rain days, about 8.6 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Roof leaks here come from summer downpours and, with about 80 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
5% of occupied homes in Knott County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Kentucky county median of 12.6%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 42 times a year in Knott County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
About 13,830 people live in Knott County, 352 square miles in southeast Kentucky, in roughly 6,680 homes. The county seat is Hindman, and Pippa Passes is the other large town. Half the homes here were built before 1982, half after.
31/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Knott County ranks 109 of 120 Kentucky counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Knott County ranks highest compared with other Kentucky counties.
Pipe-freeze risk in Knott County sits near the middle of the state. It averaged 88 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 18 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 120 Kentucky counties that's 71st.
On February 20, 2015 the low fell to about -15°F, and in the stretch ending January 2018 the county went 8 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
Expect the hardest freezes in January, inside a season that runs November to February. That's when an outdoor spigot left connected to a hose, or a pipe in a crawl space, is most likely to split.
Freezing nights typically start around Oct 31 and end around Apr 17.
Knott gets fewer downpours than most Kentucky counties, but they still fill basements. Of roughly 50.8 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 8.6 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 107th of 120. February, May and July see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 4.15 inches, July 28, 2022. The worst three-day stretch dropped 7.05 inches, ending July 29, 2022, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 80 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
47% of homes in Knott County predate 1980, close to the Kentucky county median of 44.1%, which ranks 43rd of Kentucky's 120 counties.
The mix runs from 19% built before 1960 to 25% built since 2000, so older neighborhoods bring aging pipe while newer subdivisions bring failed appliance lines and water heaters.
The 1980s and 1990s account for 29% of the county's homes. If yours is from those decades, look under the sinks and at the water heater for gray plastic pipe stamped PB, which is polybutylene and leak-prone.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 31% 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 17% 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
About 42 nights a year in Knott County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (108th of 120 counties). July is the wettest month. 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, Knott County homes break down as 36% utility gas, 58% electric, 5% propane and under 1% wood. Fires here are likelier to start in the kitchen or the wiring than in the furnace. After any fire, keep the HVAC off until ducts are checked, or soot will travel through the house.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Knott County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Letcher and Magoffin get more pipe-freeze nights than Knott. Letcher County has the oldest housing nearby, with 53% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Knott | Kentucky median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 19% | 18% | 54 of 120 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 47% | 44% | 43 of 120 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 25% | 25% | 59 of 120 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 31% | 19% | 14 of 120 |
| Vacant homes | 17% | 13% | 26 of 120 |
| Wood or propane heat | 4.8% | 13% | 112 of 120 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 18/yr | 20/yr | 71 of 120 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 8.6/yr | 12/yr | 107 of 120 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 80/yr | 73/yr | 14 of 120 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 42/yr | 59/yr | 108 of 120 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Kentucky county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Knott County: freezing from November to February, heavy rain in February, May 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