Hancock County, Mississippi · Bay St. Louis
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Pipes freeze in Hancock County on about 0 nights a year, mostly midwinter. Older homes, 7% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in December. Hancock County averages 19.6 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Hancock County gets about 19.6 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
Roof leaks here come from summer downpours. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
3% of occupied homes in Hancock County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Mississippi county median of 15.1%.
About 158 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 23,715 homes and around 46,167 residents, Hancock County is 474 square miles of southern Mississippi. The county seat is Bay St. Louis, and Diamondhead, Waveland and Kiln round out the largest towns. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1999.
41/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Hancock County ranks 66 of 82 Mississippi counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Hancock County ranks highest compared with other Mississippi counties.
Hancock County is milder than most of Mississippi, but not mild enough to skip winterizing. From 2015–2024 it averaged 0 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 11 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 80th of 82 counties.
With only about 11 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 15°F, on January 18, 2018.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Mississippi. The county gets about 68 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 19.6 days of an inch or more (5th of 82). Those downpours cluster in April, May and December, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 8.33 inches on August 30, 2021. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 10.09 inches (through August 31, 2021).
Housing
Mississippi's 82 counties range widely in housing age; Hancock ranks 76th, with 27% of its homes built before 1980.
48% of homes were built in 2000 or later, more than in most of Mississippi. Newer plumbing rarely corrodes, so damage here tends to come from appliance supply lines, water heaters, sump pumps and storms.
25% 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 10% 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
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 158 times a year here, above the Mississippi county median of 125. 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 expectMain heating fuel in Hancock County's occupied homes: 7% utility gas, 89% electric, 3% propane and under 1% wood. Heating equipment, cooking and electrical failures cause most home fires nationally. Even a small kitchen fire can leave soot through the whole house, because smoke follows air currents into closets, ducts and attic space.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Hancock County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Pearl River gets more pipe-freeze nights than Hancock. Pearl River County has the oldest housing nearby, with 35% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Hancock | Mississippi median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 6.6% | 15% | 77 of 82 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 27% | 45% | 76 of 82 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 48% | 23% | 2 of 82 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 10% | 20% | 69 of 82 |
| Vacant homes | 15% | 17% | 56 of 82 |
| Wood or propane heat | 2.7% | 15% | 81 of 82 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 0/yr | 3/yr | 80 of 82 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 20/yr | 16/yr | 5 of 82 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 11/yr | 32/yr | 82 of 82 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 158/yr | 125/yr | 1 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 Hancock County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in April, May 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