DeWitt County, Texas · Cuero
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DeWitt County averages 1 night a year at 20°F or colder, mostly midwinter, and 28% of its homes predate 1960.
Basements flood here mostly in May. DeWitt County averages 9.4 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which DeWitt County gets about 9.4 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. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
9% of occupied homes in DeWitt County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Texas county median of 6.5%.
With 178 muggy nights a year, mold in DeWitt County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 20,016 people live in DeWitt County, 909 square miles in southeast Texas, in roughly 9,238 homes. The county seat is Cuero, and Yorktown and Nordheim round out the largest towns. The county's median home was built in 1978.
56/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated DeWitt County ranks 71 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where DeWitt County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
DeWitt 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 8 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 159th of 232 counties.
With only about 8 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 14°F, on February 15, 2021.
Rainfall is about average for Texas. Of roughly 34.6 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 9.4 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 93rd of 232. April, May and August see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 5.4 inches, August 26, 2017. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 10.99 inches (through August 28, 2017).
Housing
Texas's 232 counties range widely in housing age; DeWitt ranks 83rd, with 53% of its homes built before 1980.
In DeWitt County 28% of homes are older than 1960. If yours is one of them and the plumbing has never been replaced, expect galvanized steel supply pipe and cast iron drain lines, the two materials most likely to fail quietly.
The 1980s and 1990s account for 24% 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.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 17% 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.
25% 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
DeWitt County averages 178 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 expectMain heating fuel in DeWitt County's occupied homes: 21% utility gas, 68% electric, 9% 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 DeWitt County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
DeWitt 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 | DeWitt | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 28% | 20% | 65 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 53% | 46% | 83 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 24% | 26% | 135 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 17% | 13% | 69 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 25% | 17% | 48 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 9.3% | 6.5% | 77 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 1/yr | 3/yr | 159 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 9.4/yr | 7.8/yr | 93 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 7/yr | 27/yr | 196 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 DeWitt County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in April, May and August.
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