Bates County, Missouri · Butler
Water spreading, a burst pipe, sewage, mold or smoke? Call to be connected with a restoration company that serves Butler, Adrian and Rich Hill. Start the steps below while you wait.
Answered 24/7 by a participating local provider. We're a referral service and don't do the work ourselves. How it works
Start here
Pick the closest match. These steps limit the damage and protect your insurance claim. Skip anything that isn't safe.
Pipes freeze in Bates County on about 26 nights a year, mostly December to February. Older homes, 30% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in May. Bates County averages 11.8 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Bates County gets about 11.8 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 75 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
30% of occupied homes in Bates County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Missouri county median of 24.5%.
With 72 muggy nights a year, mold in Bates County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
With 7,192 homes and around 16,186 residents, Bates County is 837 square miles of western Missouri. The county seat is Butler, and Adrian, Rich Hill and Hume round out the largest towns. The county's median home was built in 1976.
61/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Bates County ranks 18 of 114 Missouri counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Bates County ranks highest compared with other Missouri counties.
For frozen pipes, Bates County is a typical Missouri county, which is still plenty. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 26 nights a year at or below 20°F (62nd of 114) and 90 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
On February 16, 2021 the low fell to about -13°F, and in the stretch ending February 2021 the county went 13 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
Most freezing nights fall from December to February, 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 Oct 29 and the last spring freeze around Apr 8.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Missouri. About 11.8 days a year bring an inch or more (36th of 114), most often in May, out of 43.9 inches of total precipitation. On April 30, 2017, 4.05 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 5.07 inches (through April 28, 2024).
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 75 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
56% of homes in Bates County predate 1980, close to the Missouri county median of 53%, which ranks 48th of Missouri's 114 counties.
30% were built before 1960. Homes from that era often still have galvanized steel supply pipe, which rusts from the inside until it pinholes, and cast iron drains that crack with age. Slow leaks behind walls are a common start to water damage in these houses.
The 1980s and 1990s account for 27% of the county's homes. If yours is from those decades, look under the sinks and at the water heater for gray plastic pipe stamped PB, which is polybutylene and leak-prone.
Here 11% 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
Bates County averages 72 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in May. 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 expectBy main heating fuel, Bates County homes break down as 29% utility gas, 41% electric, 21% propane and 8% wood. Wood heat is more common here than in most Missouri counties. Heating equipment is one of the leading causes of home fires nationally, and the NFPA recommends having chimneys and vents inspected every year.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Bates County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Cass and Henry get more pipe-freeze nights than Bates. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Bates | Missouri median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 30% | 25% | 43 of 114 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 56% | 53% | 48 of 114 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 17% | 21% | 83 of 114 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 11% | 9.8% | 43 of 114 |
| Vacant homes | 14% | 15% | 62 of 114 |
| Wood or propane heat | 30% | 25% | 46 of 114 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 26/yr | 28/yr | 62 of 114 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 12/yr | 10/yr | 36 of 114 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 75/yr | 77/yr | 72 of 114 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 72/yr | 65/yr | 22 of 114 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Missouri county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Bates County: freezing from December to February, heavy rain in May, June and August.
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