Lamar County, Mississippi · Purvis
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Pipes freeze in Lamar County on about 2 nights a year, mostly midwinter. Older homes, 5% of the stock here, are most at risk.
January brings the most downpours to Lamar County, part of 17.1 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
Sewage backups in Lamar County spike on heavy-rain days, about 17.1 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Lamar County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 6.49 inches, and about 21 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
7% of occupied homes in Lamar County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Mississippi county median of 15.1%.
About 138 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
About 65,713 people live in Lamar County, 497 square miles in southern Mississippi, in roughly 27,685 homes. The county seat is Purvis, and West Hattiesburg, Oak Grove and Arnold Line round out the largest towns. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1999.
39/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Lamar County ranks 70 of 82 Mississippi counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Lamar County ranks highest compared with other Mississippi counties.
For frozen pipes, Lamar County is a typical Mississippi county, which is still plenty. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 2 nights a year at or below 20°F (47th of 82) and 21 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
With only about 21 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 11°F, on January 17, 2018.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Mississippi. The county gets about 65.2 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 17.1 days of an inch or more (25th of 82). Those downpours cluster in January, May and December, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 6.49 inches on December 28, 2018. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 7.55 inches (through March 12, 2016).
About 21 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
Roughly 21% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Lamar among the newer housing stocks of Mississippi's 82 counties.
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.
About 32% 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 11% 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
About 138 nights a year in Lamar County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (10th of 82 counties). July 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Lamar County it's 11% utility gas, 82% electric, 7% 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 Lamar County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Lamar gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. Marion County has the oldest housing nearby, with 49% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Lamar | Mississippi median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 4.6% | 15% | 81 of 82 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 21% | 45% | 81 of 82 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 48% | 23% | 3 of 82 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 11% | 20% | 68 of 82 |
| Vacant homes | 8.3% | 17% | 78 of 82 |
| Wood or propane heat | 7.2% | 15% | 70 of 82 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 2/yr | 3/yr | 47 of 82 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 17/yr | 16/yr | 25 of 82 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 21/yr | 32/yr | 73 of 82 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 138/yr | 125/yr | 10 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 Lamar County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in January, 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