Clarendon County, South Carolina · Manning
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With 9% of homes built before 1960 and about 2 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 11 times a year here, most often in September. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Clarendon County gets about 11 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Clarendon County, 9.35 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
7% of occupied homes in Clarendon County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the South Carolina county median of 5.1%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 118 times a year in Clarendon County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
Clarendon County covers 607 square miles of eastern South Carolina, with about 30,986 residents and 16,089 homes. The county seat is Manning, and Wyboo, Turbeville and Summerton round out the largest towns. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1990.
34/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Clarendon County ranks 40 of 46 South Carolina counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Clarendon County ranks highest compared with other South Carolina counties.
Pipe-freeze risk in Clarendon County sits near the middle of the state. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 2 nights a year at or below 20°F (20th of 46) and 30 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
Expect the hardest freezes in January, inside a season that runs midwinter. That's when an outdoor spigot left connected to a hose, or a pipe in a crawl space, is most likely to split.
Freezing nights typically start around Nov 21 and end around Mar 11.
Clarendon gets fewer downpours than most South Carolina counties, but they still fill basements. Of roughly 51.2 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 11 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 33rd of 46. April, August and September see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 9.35 inches, October 8, 2016. The worst three-day stretch dropped 13.86 inches, ending October 5, 2015, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 30 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 29% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Clarendon among the newer housing stocks of South Carolina's 46 counties.
Housing age is mixed: 9% of homes are pre-1960 and 24% are 2000 or newer. Ask any plumber which era your house is from and you'll know which failures to watch for.
About 47% 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.
Here 34% 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.
23% 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
Clarendon County averages 118 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in August. 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, Clarendon County homes break down as 2% utility gas, 90% electric, 7% propane and under 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 Clarendon County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Clarendon gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. Orangeburg County has the oldest housing nearby, with 45% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Clarendon | South Carolina median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 8.7% | 15% | 38 of 46 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 29% | 40% | 39 of 46 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 24% | 25% | 26 of 46 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 34% | 22% | 6 of 46 |
| Vacant homes | 23% | 16% | 5 of 46 |
| Wood or propane heat | 7% | 5.1% | 20 of 46 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 2/yr | 2/yr | 20 of 46 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 11/yr | 12/yr | 33 of 46 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 30/yr | 35/yr | 32 of 46 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 118/yr | 114/yr | 12 of 46 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest South Carolina county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Clarendon County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in April, August and September.
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