Bolivar County, Mississippi · Cleveland
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With 22% of homes built before 1960 and about 4 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
April brings the most downpours to Bolivar County, part of 15.9 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
22% of homes here predate 1960, when clay and cast iron sewer laterals were standard. Roots and cracks in those lines are a common cause of backups.
In Bolivar County, 5.26 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
11% of occupied homes in Bolivar County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Mississippi county median of 15.1%.
With 124 muggy nights a year, mold in Bolivar County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
Bolivar County covers 877 square miles of northwest Mississippi, with about 29,534 residents and 13,673 homes. Cleveland is the county seat; Rosedale, Shelby and Shaw are the next largest communities. The county's median home was built in 1977.
65/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Bolivar County ranks 8 of 82 Mississippi counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Bolivar County ranks highest compared with other Mississippi counties.
Bolivar is on the colder side of Mississippi for pipes. From 2015–2024 it averaged 4 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 32 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 17th of 82 counties.
On December 23, 2022 the low fell to about 7°F, and in the stretch ending February 2021 the county went 8 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
The freeze season here runs midwinter, with January the coldest. If you travel then, leave the thermostat at 55°F or above and open sink cabinets on outside walls.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Nov 15 and the last spring freeze around Mar 2.
Rainfall is about average for Mississippi. Of roughly 59.7 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 15.9 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 49th of 82. March, April and December see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 5.26 inches, March 10, 2016. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 10.34 inches (through March 11, 2016).
About 28 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
56% of homes in Bolivar County predate 1980, above the Mississippi county median of 45.1%, which ranks 9th of Mississippi's 82 counties.
In Bolivar County 22% of homes are older than 1960. If yours is one of them and the plumbing has never been replaced, expect galvanized steel supply pipe and cast iron drain lines, the two materials most likely to fail quietly.
28% 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.
Here 8% of housing is manufactured homes. Check the skirting and the heat tape on the main water line every fall, because that one exposed line is what freezes.
Renters occupy 37% 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
Bolivar County averages 124 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in March. 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Bolivar County it's 48% utility gas, 40% electric, 11% 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 Bolivar County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Bolivar gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. Coahoma County has the oldest housing nearby, with 67% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Bolivar | Mississippi median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 22% | 15% | 11 of 82 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 56% | 45% | 9 of 82 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 16% | 23% | 74 of 82 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 8% | 20% | 74 of 82 |
| Vacant homes | 13% | 17% | 68 of 82 |
| Wood or propane heat | 11% | 15% | 55 of 82 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 4/yr | 3/yr | 17 of 82 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 16/yr | 16/yr | 49 of 82 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 28/yr | 32/yr | 50 of 82 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 124/yr | 125/yr | 43 of 82 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Mississippi county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Bolivar County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in March, April and December.
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