Reynolds County, Missouri · Centerville
Water spreading, a burst pipe, sewage, mold or smoke? Call to be connected with a restoration company that serves Ellington, Bunker and Centerville. 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.
Reynolds County averages 28 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly November to February, and 26% of its homes predate 1960.
May brings the most downpours to Reynolds County, part of 12.6 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Reynolds County gets about 12.6 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Reynolds County, 5.24 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
51% of occupied homes in Reynolds County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Missouri county median of 24.5%.
With 45 muggy nights a year, mold in Reynolds County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 6,010 people live in Reynolds County, 808 square miles in southeast Missouri, in roughly 3,461 homes. The county seat is Centerville, and Ellington and Bunker round out the largest towns. Half the homes here were built before 1975, half after.
52/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Reynolds County ranks 53 of 114 Missouri counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Reynolds County ranks highest compared with other Missouri counties.
Pipe-freeze risk in Reynolds County sits near the middle of the state. From 2015–2024 it averaged 28 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 98 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 54th of 114 counties.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 12 days below freezing (ending February 2021), and the low bottomed out near -8°F on December 24, 2022.
Most freezing nights fall from November 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.
Freezing nights typically start around Oct 24 and end around Apr 13.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Missouri. The county gets about 50.2 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 12.6 days of an inch or more (19th of 114). Those downpours cluster in March, May and November, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 5.24 inches on April 30, 2017. The worst three-day stretch dropped 7.88 inches, ending May 1, 2017, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 89 days a year swing from below freezing at night to above freezing by day. Those freeze-thaw cycles feed ice dams on roofs, open cracks in foundations and driveways, and stress pipes that are already marginal.
Housing
Missouri's 114 counties range widely in housing age; Reynolds ranks 35th, with 61% of its homes built before 1980.
Older and newer homes sit side by side here: 26% predate 1960 and 19% are from 2000 or later. Corroded pipe is the typical failure in the first group, burst supply hoses in the second.
Here 19% 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.
33% of homes were vacant at survey time. A leak in an empty rental or seasonal house can run for days before anyone notices, which is why those losses tend to be larger.
Beyond water
About 45 nights a year in Reynolds County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (109th of 114 counties). May 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 Reynolds County it's 2% utility gas, 46% electric, 30% propane and 21% wood. Wood and propane heat are more common here than the state median. Have chimneys swept and fuel-burning appliances serviced each fall, and keep three feet clear around stoves and space heaters.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Reynolds County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Dent and Iron get more pipe-freeze nights than Reynolds. Iron County has the oldest housing nearby, with 62% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Reynolds | Missouri median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 26% | 25% | 57 of 114 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 61% | 53% | 35 of 114 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 19% | 21% | 74 of 114 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 19% | 9.8% | 9 of 114 |
| Vacant homes | 33% | 15% | 8 of 114 |
| Wood or propane heat | 51% | 25% | 6 of 114 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 28/yr | 28/yr | 54 of 114 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 13/yr | 10/yr | 19 of 114 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 89/yr | 77/yr | 5 of 114 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 45/yr | 65/yr | 109 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 Reynolds County: freezing from November to February, heavy rain in March, May and November.
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