Calhoun County, Texas · Port Lavaca
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Pipes freeze in Calhoun County on about 0 nights a year, mostly midwinter. Older homes, 21% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in May. Calhoun County averages 9.1 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Calhoun County spike on heavy-rain days, about 9.1 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Roof leaks here come from summer downpours. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
8% of occupied homes in Calhoun County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Texas county median of 6.5%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 207 times a year in Calhoun County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
With 10,833 homes and around 19,868 residents, Calhoun County is 507 square miles of southeast Texas. Besides Port Lavaca, the county seat, the biggest communities are Seadrift, Port O'Connor and Point Comfort. Half the homes here were built before 1978, half after.
47/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Calhoun County ranks 141 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Calhoun County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
Winters here are on the gentler end for Texas, and pipes still freeze. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 0 nights a year at or below 20°F (205th of 232) and 4 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
Hard freezes are uncommon here, about 4 nights a year at or below 32°F, and that's exactly why they do damage: pipes in attics, exterior walls and slab-edge plumbing are rarely insulated. The coldest night in the record was about 18°F on February 16, 2021.
Rainfall is about average for Texas. About 9.1 days a year bring an inch or more (99th of 232), most often in May, out of 39.9 inches of total precipitation. On August 26, 2017, 8.55 inches fell in a single day. The worst three-day stretch dropped 11.94 inches, ending August 28, 2017, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
Housing
53% of homes in Calhoun County predate 1980, above the Texas county median of 45.8%, which ranks 82nd of Texas's 232 counties.
Older and newer homes sit side by side here: 21% predate 1960 and 24% are from 2000 or later. Corroded pipe is the typical failure in the first group, burst supply hoses in the second.
The 1980s and 1990s account for 23% of the county's homes. If yours is from those decades, look under the sinks and at the water heater for gray plastic pipe stamped PB, which is polybutylene and leak-prone.
13% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, close to the Texas county median of 13.4%. Their water lines run under the floor behind the skirting, so a torn skirt or failed heat tape freezes them faster than lines in a site-built house.
The Census counted 20% of homes as vacant, above the Texas county median of 16.6%. Empty houses are where a small leak turns into a large claim, because nobody is there to hear it.
Beyond water
Calhoun County averages 207 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in June. Keep indoor humidity under 60%, as the EPA advises, and dry any leak within 24 to 48 hours; in a humid month a wet basement left alone won't dry by itself.
Mold remediation: what to expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Calhoun County it's 25% utility gas, 66% electric, 8% propane and under 1% wood. Heating equipment, cooking and electrical failures cause most home fires nationally. Even a small kitchen fire can leave soot through the whole house, because smoke follows air currents into closets, ducts and attic space.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Calhoun County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Calhoun gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. Refugio County has the oldest housing nearby, with 60% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Calhoun | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 21% | 20% | 106 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 53% | 46% | 82 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 24% | 26% | 132 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 13% | 13% | 131 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 20% | 17% | 77 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 7.6% | 6.5% | 102 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 0/yr | 3/yr | 205 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 9.1/yr | 7.8/yr | 99 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 3/yr | 27/yr | 218 of 232 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 207/yr | 129/yr | 8 of 232 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Texas county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Calhoun County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in May, June and July.
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