Childress County, Texas · Childress
Water spreading, a burst pipe, sewage, mold or smoke? Call to be connected with a restoration company that serves Childress. 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.
Childress County averages 10 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly December to February, and 46% of its homes predate 1960.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 6.2 times a year here, most often in May. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Childress County gets about 6.2 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 61 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
6% of occupied homes in Childress County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Texas county median of 6.5%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 100 times a year in Childress County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
About 6,743 people live in Childress County, 697 square miles in northern Texas, in roughly 2,772 homes. The county seat is Childress. The county's median home was built in 1963.
67/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Childress County ranks 6 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Childress County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
Childress is on the colder side of Texas for pipes. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 10 nights a year at or below 20°F (32nd of 232) and 66 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
On February 16, 2021 the low fell to about -3°F, and in the stretch ending February 2021 the county went 7 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 10 and the last spring freeze around Mar 20.
Rainfall is about average for Texas. The county gets about 24 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 6.2 days of an inch or more (142nd of 232). Those downpours cluster in May, June and July, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 2.48 inches on May 23, 2016. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 4.6 inches (through July 9, 2015).
About 61 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 67% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Childress among the oldest housing stocks of Texas's 232 counties.
Before 1960 is when 46% of these homes went up. Galvanized supply lines and cast iron drains were standard then, and after 60-plus years both corrode and crack, often out of sight inside a wall or under a slab.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 8% 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.
34% 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
Childress County averages 100 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in May. 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 Childress County it's 51% utility gas, 43% electric, 6% 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 Childress County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Collingsworth gets more pipe-freeze nights than Childress. Hall County has the oldest housing nearby, with 89% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Childress | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 46% | 20% | 9 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 67% | 46% | 37 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 18% | 26% | 175 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 8% | 13% | 176 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 34% | 17% | 7 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 5.8% | 6.5% | 132 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 10/yr | 3/yr | 32 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 6.2/yr | 7.8/yr | 142 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 61/yr | 27/yr | 33 of 232 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 100/yr | 129/yr | 192 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 Childress County: freezing from December to February, 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