George County, Mississippi · Lucedale
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With 11% of homes built before 1960 and about 1 hard-freeze night a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Basements flood here mostly in April. George County averages 18.4 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in George County spike on heavy-rain days, about 18.4 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Roof leaks here come from summer downpours and, with about 20 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
9% of occupied homes in George County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Mississippi county median of 15.1%.
With 140 muggy nights a year, mold in George County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
With 10,373 homes and around 25,170 residents, George County is 479 square miles of southeast Mississippi. The county seat is Lucedale, and Agricola and Benndale round out the largest towns. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1989.
45/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated George County ranks 50 of 82 Mississippi counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where George County ranks highest compared with other Mississippi counties.
George County is milder than most of Mississippi, but not mild enough to skip winterizing. From 2015–2024 it averaged 1 night a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 20 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 75th of 82 counties.
With only about 20 freezing nights a year, many homes here aren't built for cold, so a single arctic outbreak can burst pipes across the county. The record low in this data was about 16°F, on January 18, 2018.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Mississippi. About 18.4 days a year bring an inch or more (12th of 82), most often in April, out of 67 inches of total precipitation. On August 30, 2021, 5.57 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 8.38 inches (through August 31, 2021).
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 20 days a year. Each cycle melts and refreezes water at roof edges and in foundation cracks, which is how ice dams and basement seepage get started.
Housing
Mississippi's 82 counties range widely in housing age; George ranks 65th, with 37% of its homes built before 1980.
Growth since 2000 added 34% of today's homes. In houses that new, the weak points are washing machine hoses, ice maker lines, water heaters and sump pumps rather than the pipes in the walls.
About 30% 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 17% 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.
Beyond water
George County averages 140 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in June. 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 expectMain heating fuel in George County's occupied homes: 5% utility gas, 83% electric, 8% propane and 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 George County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
George gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. Jackson County has the oldest housing nearby, with 45% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | George | Mississippi median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 11% | 15% | 61 of 82 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 37% | 45% | 65 of 82 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 34% | 23% | 14 of 82 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 17% | 20% | 56 of 82 |
| Vacant homes | 10% | 17% | 75 of 82 |
| Wood or propane heat | 9.2% | 15% | 60 of 82 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 1/yr | 3/yr | 75 of 82 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 18/yr | 16/yr | 12 of 82 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 20/yr | 32/yr | 76 of 82 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 140/yr | 125/yr | 8 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 George County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in January, April and May.
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