McIntosh County, Oklahoma · Eufaula
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With 12% of homes built before 1960 and about 9 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
May brings the most downpours to McIntosh County, part of 13.1 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
Sewage backups in McIntosh County spike on heavy-rain days, about 13.1 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
McIntosh County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 4.9 inches, and about 54 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
23% of occupied homes in McIntosh County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Oklahoma county median of 12.5%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 107 times a year in McIntosh County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
McIntosh County covers 618 square miles of eastern Oklahoma, with about 19,400 residents and 11,895 homes. Besides Eufaula, the county seat, the biggest communities are Checotah, Texanna and Shady Grove. The county's median home was built in 1983.
41/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate McIntosh County ranks 71 of 77 Oklahoma counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where McIntosh County ranks highest compared with other Oklahoma counties.
McIntosh County is milder than most of Oklahoma, but not mild enough to skip winterizing. From 2015–2024 it averaged 9 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 58 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 58th of 77 counties.
The longest cold spell was straight 10 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in February 2021. The coldest night reached about -11°F on February 17, 2021. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
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.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Nov 6 and the last spring freeze around Mar 23.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Oklahoma. About 13.1 days a year bring an inch or more (20th of 77), most often in May, out of 48.7 inches of total precipitation. On September 22, 2018, 4.9 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 7.3 inches (through December 29, 2015).
About 54 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
Roughly 45% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts McIntosh among the newer housing stocks of Oklahoma's 77 counties.
Housing age is mixed: 12% of homes are pre-1960 and 26% are 2000 or newer. Ask any plumber which era your house is from and you'll know which failures to watch for.
29% 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 33% 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.
35% 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
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 107 times a year here, close to the Oklahoma county median of 98. 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In McIntosh County it's 24% utility gas, 51% electric, 21% propane and 2% wood. Propane heat is 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 McIntosh County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Hughes, Muskogee, Okfuskee and Okmulgee get more pipe-freeze nights than McIntosh. Hughes County has the oldest housing nearby, with 64% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | McIntosh | Oklahoma median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 12% | 24% | 67 of 77 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 45% | 55% | 60 of 77 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 26% | 22% | 24 of 77 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 33% | 12% | 2 of 77 |
| Vacant homes | 35% | 17% | 2 of 77 |
| Wood or propane heat | 23% | 13% | 13 of 77 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 9/yr | 13/yr | 58 of 77 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 13/yr | 11/yr | 20 of 77 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 54/yr | 65/yr | 63 of 77 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 107/yr | 98/yr | 14 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 McIntosh County: freezing from December to February, heavy rain in April, 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