Love County, Oklahoma · Marietta
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With 16% of homes built before 1960 and about 6 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Basements flood here mostly in May. Love County averages 11.5 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
16% of homes here predate 1960, when clay and cast iron sewer laterals were standard. Roots and cracks in those lines are a common cause of backups.
Love County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 7.03 inches, and about 42 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
4% of occupied homes in Love County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Oklahoma county median of 12.5%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 118 times a year in Love County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
Love County covers 514 square miles of southern Oklahoma, with about 10,261 residents and 4,732 homes. Marietta is the county seat; Burneyville, Thackerville and Greenville are the next largest communities. Half the homes here were built before 1984, half after.
36/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Love County ranks 73 of 77 Oklahoma counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Love County ranks highest compared with other Oklahoma counties.
Winters here are on the gentler end for Oklahoma, and pipes still freeze. From 2015–2024 it averaged 6 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 46 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 73rd of 77 counties.
On February 16, 2021 the low fell to about -6°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.
The freeze season here runs January, 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 Nov 15 and end around Mar 11.
Rainfall is about average for Oklahoma. The county gets about 41.8 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 11.5 days of an inch or more (33rd of 77). Those downpours cluster in March, May and October, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 7.03 inches on June 18, 2015. The worst three-day stretch dropped 8.71 inches, ending June 18, 2015, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 42 times a year here. They're the main driver of ice dams and of water working its way through foundation cracks in late winter.
Housing
45% of homes in Love County predate 1980, below the Oklahoma county median of 54.8%, which ranks 62nd of Oklahoma's 77 counties.
Growth since 2000 added 29% 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.
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.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 19% 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
About 118 nights a year in Love County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (3rd of 77 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 expectBy main heating fuel, Love County homes break down as 11% utility gas, 82% electric, 3% propane and 1% wood. Most homes here heat with gas or electricity, so cooking and electrical faults are the likelier fire sources. Even a contained kitchen fire can send soot through the ductwork to every room.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Love County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Carter and Jefferson get more pipe-freeze nights than Love. Jefferson County has the oldest housing nearby, with 76% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Love | Oklahoma median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 16% | 24% | 61 of 77 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 45% | 55% | 62 of 77 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 29% | 22% | 13 of 77 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 19% | 12% | 10 of 77 |
| Vacant homes | 18% | 17% | 36 of 77 |
| Wood or propane heat | 3.9% | 13% | 73 of 77 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 6/yr | 13/yr | 73 of 77 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 12/yr | 11/yr | 33 of 77 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 42/yr | 65/yr | 75 of 77 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 118/yr | 98/yr | 3 of 77 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Oklahoma county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Love County: freezing from January, heavy rain in March, May and October.
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