Leflore County, Mississippi · Greenwood
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Leflore County averages 3 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly midwinter, and 28% of its homes predate 1960.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 16.2 times a year here, most often in February. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
28% 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 Leflore County, 3.78 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
5% of occupied homes in Leflore County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Mississippi county median of 15.1%.
About 134 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 27,141 people live in Leflore County, 594 square miles in northern Mississippi, in roughly 12,619 homes. Greenwood is the county seat; Itta Bena, Mississippi Valley State University and Schlater are the next largest communities. The county's median home was built in 1973.
68/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Leflore County ranks 5 of 82 Mississippi counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Leflore County ranks highest compared with other Mississippi counties.
Leflore is on the colder side of Mississippi for pipes. From 2015–2024 it averaged 3 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 28 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 28th of 82 counties.
The longest cold spell was straight 6 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in February 2021. The coldest night reached about 10°F on December 23, 2022. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
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 16 and the last spring freeze around Mar 1.
Rainfall is about average for Mississippi. About 16.2 days a year bring an inch or more (42nd of 82), most often in February, out of 57.4 inches of total precipitation. On February 22, 2019, 3.78 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 8.34 inches (through June 10, 2021).
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 25 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
Roughly 66% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Leflore among the oldest housing stocks of Mississippi's 82 counties.
In Leflore County 28% 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.
23% 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.
The Census counted 19% of homes as vacant, above the Mississippi county median of 16.8%. Empty houses are where a small leak turns into a large claim, because nobody is there to hear it.
Renters occupy 48% 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
Leflore County averages 134 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in February. 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 Leflore County it's 52% utility gas, 41% electric, 5% 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 Leflore County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Grenada and Tallahatchie get more pipe-freeze nights than Leflore. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Leflore | Mississippi median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 28% | 15% | 4 of 82 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 66% | 45% | 4 of 82 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 11% | 23% | 81 of 82 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 5.4% | 20% | 78 of 82 |
| Vacant homes | 19% | 17% | 26 of 82 |
| Wood or propane heat | 5.1% | 15% | 76 of 82 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 3/yr | 3/yr | 28 of 82 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 16/yr | 16/yr | 42 of 82 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 25/yr | 32/yr | 54 of 82 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 134/yr | 125/yr | 22 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 Leflore County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in February, March and April.
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