Hawkins County, Tennessee · Rogersville
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With 18% of homes built before 1960 and about 11 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Basements flood here mostly in February. Hawkins County averages 9.9 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Hawkins County spike on heavy-rain days, about 9.9 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Hawkins County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 3.32 inches, and about 66 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
8% of occupied homes in Hawkins County heat mainly with wood or propane, close to the Tennessee county median of 7.8%.
With 56 muggy nights a year, mold in Hawkins County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
Hawkins County covers 487 square miles of northeast Tennessee, with about 57,964 residents and 27,445 homes. Besides Rogersville, the county seat, the biggest communities are Church Hill, Mount Carmel and Surgoinsville. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1986.
37/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Hawkins County ranks 79 of 95 Tennessee counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Hawkins County ranks highest compared with other Tennessee counties.
For frozen pipes, Hawkins County is a typical Tennessee county, which is still plenty. It averaged 72 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 11 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 45th.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 5 days below freezing (ending February 2015), and the low bottomed out near -5°F on February 20, 2015.
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 1 and the last spring freeze around Apr 8.
Hawkins gets fewer downpours than most Tennessee counties, but they still fill basements. The county gets about 50.6 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 9.9 days of an inch or more (86th of 95). Those downpours cluster in February, March and September, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 3.32 inches on August 18, 2021. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 5.86 inches (through September 27, 2024).
About 66 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
Tennessee's 95 counties range widely in housing age; Hawkins ranks 48th, with 41% of its homes built before 1980.
The mix runs from 18% built before 1960 to 23% built since 2000, so older neighborhoods bring aging pipe while newer subdivisions bring failed appliance lines and water heaters.
About 36% 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.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 21% 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.
14% 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 56 nights a year in Hawkins County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (80th of 95 counties). February 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, Hawkins County homes break down as 20% utility gas, 71% electric, 4% propane and 4% wood. Wood 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 Hawkins County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Grainger, Hancock, Sullivan and Washington get more pipe-freeze nights than Hawkins. Sullivan County has the oldest housing nearby, with 55% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Hawkins | Tennessee median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 18% | 16% | 38 of 95 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 41% | 41% | 48 of 95 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 23% | 27% | 69 of 95 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 21% | 16% | 29 of 95 |
| Vacant homes | 14% | 12% | 33 of 95 |
| Wood or propane heat | 7.9% | 7.8% | 51 of 95 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 11/yr | 11/yr | 45 of 95 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 9.9/yr | 14/yr | 86 of 95 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 66/yr | 60/yr | 18 of 95 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 56/yr | 74/yr | 80 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 Hawkins County: freezing from December to February, heavy rain in February, March 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