Tishomingo County, Mississippi · Iuka
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Pipes freeze in Tishomingo County on about 7 nights a year, mostly December to January. Older homes, 16% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in March. Tishomingo County averages 16.8 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Tishomingo County gets about 16.8 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 and, with about 55 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
14% of occupied homes in Tishomingo County heat mainly with wood or propane, close to the Mississippi county median of 15.1%.
With 90 muggy nights a year, mold in Tishomingo County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
With 10,577 homes and around 18,660 residents, Tishomingo County is 424 square miles of northeast Mississippi. The county seat is Iuka, and Belmont, Burnsville and Tishomingo round out the largest towns. The county's median home was built in 1981.
62/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Tishomingo County ranks 15 of 82 Mississippi counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Tishomingo County ranks highest compared with other Mississippi counties.
Tishomingo is on the colder side of Mississippi for pipes. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 7 nights a year at or below 20°F (3rd of 82) and 58 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
The longest cold spell was straight 6 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in February 2021. The coldest night reached about -1°F on January 17, 2024. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
Most freezing nights fall from December to January, peaking in January. Disconnect garden hoses and shut off outdoor spigots before the first hard frost, and keep the heat at 55°F or higher if you'll be away.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Nov 7 and the last spring freeze around Mar 28.
Rainfall is about average for Mississippi. Of roughly 61.4 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 16.8 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 29th of 82. February, March and December see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 4.8 inches, August 31, 2021. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 6.75 inches (through February 23, 2019).
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 55 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
Roughly 49% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Tishomingo among the oldest housing stocks of Mississippi's 82 counties.
Older and newer homes sit side by side here: 16% predate 1960 and 25% are from 2000 or later. Corroded pipe is the typical failure in the first group, burst supply hoses in the second.
26% 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 13% 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.
Beyond water
Tishomingo County averages 90 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in March. 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 Tishomingo County it's 25% utility gas, 60% electric, 11% propane and 3% wood. Wood heat is above the Mississippi norm. Annual chimney and vent inspection, which the NFPA recommends, is one of the most effective fire-prevention habits for these homes.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Tishomingo County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Alcorn gets more pipe-freeze nights than Tishomingo. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Tishomingo | Mississippi median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 16% | 15% | 35 of 82 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 49% | 45% | 22 of 82 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 25% | 23% | 35 of 82 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 13% | 20% | 63 of 82 |
| Vacant homes | 17% | 17% | 43 of 82 |
| Wood or propane heat | 14% | 15% | 46 of 82 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 7/yr | 3/yr | 3 of 82 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 17/yr | 16/yr | 29 of 82 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 55/yr | 32/yr | 2 of 82 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 90/yr | 125/yr | 82 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 Tishomingo County: freezing from December to January, heavy rain in February, March 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