Georgetown County, South Carolina · Georgetown
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With 8% 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.
August brings the most downpours to Georgetown County, part of 14.1 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
Sewage backups in Georgetown County spike on heavy-rain days, about 14.1 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Georgetown County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 5.8 inches, and about 27 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
4% of occupied homes in Georgetown County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the South Carolina county median of 5.1%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 121 times a year in Georgetown County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
With 37,173 homes and around 64,811 residents, Georgetown County is 814 square miles of eastern South Carolina. The county seat is Georgetown, and Murrells Inlet, Litchfield Beach and Andrews round out the largest towns. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1993.
51/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Georgetown County ranks 26 of 46 South Carolina counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Georgetown County ranks highest compared with other South Carolina counties.
For frozen pipes, Georgetown County is a typical South Carolina county, which is still plenty. It averaged 28 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 2 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 46 South Carolina counties that's 20th.
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.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Nov 24 and the last spring freeze around Mar 7.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of South Carolina. Of roughly 55.5 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 14.1 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 4th of 46. August, September and December see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 5.8 inches, October 5, 2015. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 13.23 inches (through October 5, 2015).
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 27 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
Roughly 26% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Georgetown among the newer housing stocks of South Carolina's 46 counties.
Since 2000 the county has added enough housing that 35% of homes are that new. Modern PEX and copper rarely fail on their own; the leaks come from connections, appliances and storms.
39% 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 17% 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.
27% 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 121 nights a year in Georgetown County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (8th of 46 counties). August 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, Georgetown County homes break down as 7% utility gas, 88% electric, 3% propane and under 1% wood. Fires here are likelier to start in the kitchen or the wiring than in the furnace. After any fire, keep the HVAC off until ducts are checked, or soot will travel through the house.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Georgetown County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Georgetown gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. It also has the most heavy-rain days in its area. Marion County has the oldest housing nearby, with 48% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Georgetown | South Carolina median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 8% | 15% | 40 of 46 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 26% | 40% | 40 of 46 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 35% | 25% | 14 of 46 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 17% | 22% | 32 of 46 |
| Vacant homes | 27% | 16% | 2 of 46 |
| Wood or propane heat | 3.6% | 5.1% | 36 of 46 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 2/yr | 2/yr | 20 of 46 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 14/yr | 12/yr | 4 of 46 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 27/yr | 35/yr | 39 of 46 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 121/yr | 114/yr | 8 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 Georgetown County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in August, September and December.
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