Polk County, Missouri · Bolivar
Water spreading, a burst pipe, sewage, mold or smoke? Call to be connected with a restoration company that serves Bolivar, Humansville and Pleasant Hope. 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.
Polk County averages 23 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly December to February, and 17% of its homes predate 1960.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 12.4 times a year here, most often in May. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Polk County gets about 12.4 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Polk County, 4.47 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
28% of occupied homes in Polk County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Missouri county median of 24.5%.
With 67 muggy nights a year, mold in Polk County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
With 13,482 homes and around 32,444 residents, Polk County is 636 square miles of southwest Missouri. Besides Bolivar, the county seat, the biggest communities are Humansville, Pleasant Hope and Fair Play. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1987.
42/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Polk County ranks 86 of 114 Missouri counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Polk County ranks highest compared with other Missouri counties.
Winters here are on the gentler end for Missouri, and pipes still freeze. From 2015–2024 it averaged 23 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 88 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 79th of 114 counties.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 13 days below freezing (ending February 2021), and the low bottomed out near -15°F on February 16, 2021.
The freeze season here runs December to February, with January the coldest. If you travel then, leave the thermostat at 55°F or above and open sink cabinets on outside walls.
Freezing nights typically start around Oct 29 and end around Apr 9.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Missouri. About 12.4 days a year bring an inch or more (22nd of 114), most often in May, out of 46.5 inches of total precipitation. On December 27, 2015, 4.47 inches fell in a single day. The worst three-day stretch dropped 7.4 inches, ending December 29, 2015, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 76 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
Missouri's 114 counties range widely in housing age; Polk ranks 99th, with 40% of its homes built before 1980.
Growth since 2000 added 31% of today's homes. In houses that new, the weak points are washing machine hoses, ice maker lines, water heaters and sump pumps rather than the pipes in the walls.
About 29% 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 9% 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
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 67 times a year here, close to the Missouri county median of 64.5. Mold grows when indoor humidity stays above about 60%, the EPA's ceiling. A basement dehumidifier set to 50% and drying anything wet within 24 to 48 hours prevents most problems.
Mold remediation: what to expectBy main heating fuel, Polk County homes break down as 2% utility gas, 68% electric, 21% propane and 7% wood. Wood heat is above the Missouri 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 Polk County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Dallas, Greene and Hickory get more pipe-freeze nights than Polk. Dade County has the oldest housing nearby, with 61% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Polk | Missouri median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 17% | 25% | 96 of 114 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 40% | 53% | 99 of 114 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 31% | 21% | 14 of 114 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 9.1% | 9.8% | 67 of 114 |
| Vacant homes | 11% | 15% | 89 of 114 |
| Wood or propane heat | 28% | 25% | 53 of 114 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 23/yr | 28/yr | 79 of 114 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 12/yr | 10/yr | 22 of 114 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 76/yr | 77/yr | 61 of 114 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 67/yr | 65/yr | 45 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 Polk County: freezing from December to February, heavy rain in April, May 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