Deaf Smith County, Texas · Hereford
Water spreading, a burst pipe, sewage, mold or smoke? Call to be connected with a restoration company that serves Hereford. 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.
Deaf Smith County averages 26 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly November to February, and 23% of its homes predate 1960.
Basements flood here mostly in October. Deaf Smith County averages 3 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Deaf Smith County spike on heavy-rain days, about 3 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Roof leaks here come from summer downpours and, with about 100 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
1% of occupied homes in Deaf Smith 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 37 times a year in Deaf Smith County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
About 18,460 people live in Deaf Smith County, 1,497 square miles in northwest Texas, in roughly 6,984 homes. Hereford is the county seat. Half the homes here were built before 1971, half after.
50/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Deaf Smith County ranks 117 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Deaf Smith County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
Deaf Smith County gets more hard-freeze nights than most of Texas. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 26 nights a year at or below 20°F (4th of 232) and 107 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
The longest cold spell was straight 7 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in February 2021. The coldest night reached about -10°F on February 15, 2021. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
The freeze season here runs November 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.
Freezing nights typically start around Oct 31 and end around Apr 11.
Deaf Smith gets fewer downpours than most Texas counties, but they still fill basements. About 3 days a year bring an inch or more (203rd of 232), most often in October, out of 18 inches of total precipitation. On July 30, 2022, 2.82 inches fell in a single day. The worst three-day stretch dropped 3.91 inches, ending October 3, 2019, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 100 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
72% of homes in Deaf Smith County predate 1980, above the Texas county median of 45.8%, which ranks 22nd of Texas's 232 counties.
Housing age is mixed: 23% of homes are pre-1960 and 16% are 2000 or newer. Ask any plumber which era your house is from and you'll know which failures to watch for.
Renters occupy 33% of homes. If you rent, the building is usually the landlord's to repair, but your belongings are only covered by renters insurance.
Beyond water
About 37 nights a year in Deaf Smith County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (228th of 232 counties). July is the wettest month. 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 expectBy main heating fuel, Deaf Smith County homes break down as 65% utility gas, 31% electric, 1% propane and under 1% wood. Fires here are likelier to start in the kitchen or the wiring than in the furnace. After any fire, keep the HVAC off until ducts are checked, or soot will travel through the house.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Deaf Smith County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Deaf Smith gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Deaf Smith | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 23% | 20% | 98 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 72% | 46% | 22 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 16% | 26% | 185 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 6.5% | 13% | 196 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 13% | 17% | 151 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 1.3% | 6.5% | 221 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 26/yr | 3/yr | 4 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 3/yr | 7.8/yr | 203 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 100/yr | 27/yr | 5 of 232 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 37/yr | 129/yr | 228 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 Deaf Smith County: freezing from November to February, heavy rain in May, August and October.
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