Carroll County, Tennessee · Huntingdon
Water spreading, a burst pipe, sewage, mold or smoke? Call to be connected with a restoration company that serves McKenzie, Huntingdon and Bruceton. 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.
Carroll County averages 12 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly December to February, and 24% of its homes predate 1960.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 13.8 times a year here, most often in February. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Carroll County gets about 13.8 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
Roof leaks here come from summer downpours and, with about 58 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
7% of occupied homes in Carroll County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Tennessee county median of 7.8%.
About 87 nights a year here stay at 65°F or warmer, so basements and crawl spaces can grow mold even without a leak.
Local risk profile
About 28,641 people live in Carroll County, 598 square miles in western Tennessee, in roughly 13,100 homes. The county seat is Huntingdon, and McKenzie, Bruceton and Atwood round out the largest towns. The county's median home was built in 1977.
68/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Carroll County ranks 7 of 95 Tennessee counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Carroll County ranks highest compared with other Tennessee counties.
Carroll is on the colder side of Tennessee for pipes. It averaged 64 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 12 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 95 Tennessee counties that's 31st.
On January 17, 2024 the low fell to about -2°F, and in the stretch ending February 2021 the county went 8 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
Most freezing nights fall from December 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.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Nov 3 and the last spring freeze around Mar 30.
Rainfall is about average for Tennessee. About 13.8 days a year bring an inch or more (55th of 95), most often in February, out of 56.4 inches of total precipitation. On September 1, 2017, 3.52 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 5.23 inches (through March 11, 2016).
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 58 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
Roughly 55% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Carroll among the oldest housing stocks of Tennessee's 95 counties.
In Carroll County 24% of homes are older than 1960. If yours is one of them and the plumbing has never been replaced, expect galvanized steel supply pipe and cast iron drain lines, the two materials most likely to fail quietly.
About 26% 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 17% 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.
Beyond water
Carroll County averages 87 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in March. 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 Carroll County it's 44% utility gas, 48% electric, 4% propane and 3% 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 Carroll County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Henry gets more pipe-freeze nights than Carroll. Gibson County has the oldest housing nearby, with 56% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Carroll | Tennessee median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 24% | 16% | 11 of 95 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 55% | 41% | 7 of 95 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 19% | 27% | 87 of 95 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 17% | 16% | 45 of 95 |
| Vacant homes | 12% | 12% | 47 of 95 |
| Wood or propane heat | 7% | 7.8% | 57 of 95 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 12/yr | 11/yr | 31 of 95 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 14/yr | 14/yr | 55 of 95 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 58/yr | 60/yr | 66 of 95 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 87/yr | 74/yr | 18 of 95 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Tennessee county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Carroll County: freezing from December to February, heavy rain in February, March 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