Mississippi County, Missouri · Charleston
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With 28% of homes built before 1960 and about 13 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Basements flood here mostly in March. Mississippi County averages 13.7 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Mississippi County spike on heavy-rain days, about 13.7 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Mississippi County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 3.34 inches, and about 55 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
8% of occupied homes in Mississippi County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Missouri county median of 24.5%.
With 89 muggy nights a year, mold in Mississippi County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
Mississippi County covers 412 square miles of southeast Missouri, with about 11,902 residents and 5,272 homes. Besides Charleston, the county seat, the biggest communities are East Prairie, Bertrand and Wyatt. The county's median home was built in 1973.
57/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Mississippi County ranks 33 of 114 Missouri counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Mississippi County ranks highest compared with other Missouri counties.
Mississippi County is milder than most of Missouri, but not mild enough to skip winterizing. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 13 nights a year at or below 20°F (110th of 114) and 64 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
On February 19, 2015 the low fell to about -4°F, and in the stretch ending February 2021 the county went 10 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 Nov 5 and the last spring freeze around Mar 22.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Missouri. Of roughly 52.2 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 13.7 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 4th of 114. January, February and March see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 3.34 inches, October 29, 2020. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 7.07 inches (through August 5, 2023).
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 64% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Mississippi among the oldest housing stocks of Missouri's 114 counties.
Housing age is mixed: 28% of homes are pre-1960 and 12% are 2000 or newer. Ask any plumber which era your house is from and you'll know which failures to watch for.
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.
Renters occupy 37% 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
About 89 nights a year in Mississippi County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (4th of 114 counties). March is the wettest month. The EPA recommends keeping indoor humidity below 60%, ideally 30 to 50%. Basements can pass 60% on their own in summer, so a dehumidifier matters even without a leak, and anything wet should be dried within 24 to 48 hours.
Mold remediation: what to expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Mississippi County it's 46% utility gas, 45% electric, 7% 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 Mississippi County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Scott gets more pipe-freeze nights than Mississippi. It also has the most heavy-rain days in its area. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Mississippi | Missouri median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 28% | 25% | 49 of 114 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 64% | 53% | 25 of 114 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 12% | 21% | 108 of 114 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 9.7% | 9.8% | 60 of 114 |
| Vacant homes | 15% | 15% | 58 of 114 |
| Wood or propane heat | 8% | 25% | 105 of 114 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 13/yr | 28/yr | 110 of 114 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 14/yr | 10/yr | 4 of 114 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 55/yr | 77/yr | 111 of 114 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 89/yr | 65/yr | 4 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 Mississippi County: freezing from December to February, heavy rain in January, February and March.
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