Colorado County, Texas · Columbus
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With 28% of homes built before 1960 and about 1 hard-freeze night a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
May brings the most downpours to Colorado County, part of 12.3 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
28% of homes here predate 1960, when clay and cast iron sewer laterals were standard. Roots and cracks in those lines are a common cause of backups.
In Colorado County, 7.9 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
16% of occupied homes in Colorado 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 178 times a year in Colorado County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
With 10,102 homes and around 21,006 residents, Colorado County is 960 square miles of eastern Texas. Besides Columbus, the county seat, the biggest communities are Eagle Lake, Weimar and Glidden. The county's median home was built in 1983.
60/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Colorado County ranks 42 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Colorado County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
Colorado County is milder than most of Texas, but not mild enough to skip winterizing. From 2015–2024 it averaged 1 night a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 7 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 159th of 232 counties.
With only about 7 freezing nights a year, many homes here aren't built for cold, so a single arctic outbreak can burst pipes across the county. The record low in this data was about 12°F, on February 16, 2021.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Texas. About 12.3 days a year bring an inch or more (64th of 232), most often in May, out of 45.8 inches of total precipitation. On August 27, 2017, 7.9 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 18.98 inches (through August 28, 2017).
Housing
46% of homes in Colorado County predate 1980, close to the Texas county median of 45.8%, which ranks 116th of Texas's 232 counties.
Before 1960 is when 28% 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.
28% 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.
Here 16% 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.
The Census counted 21% 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
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 178 times a year here, above the Texas county median of 129. 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Colorado County it's 20% utility gas, 63% electric, 15% propane and 1% wood. Propane heat is above the Texas norm. Annual chimney and vent inspection, which the NFPA recommends, is one of the most effective fire-prevention habits for these homes.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Colorado County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Colorado gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. Lavaca County has the oldest housing nearby, with 54% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Colorado | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 28% | 20% | 61 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 46% | 46% | 116 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 26% | 26% | 120 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 16% | 13% | 84 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 21% | 17% | 67 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 16% | 6.5% | 23 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 1/yr | 3/yr | 159 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 12/yr | 7.8/yr | 64 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 6/yr | 27/yr | 202 of 232 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 178/yr | 129/yr | 29 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 Colorado County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in April, May and June.
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