Garza County, Texas · Post
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With 31% of homes built before 1960 and about 8 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Basements flood here mostly in September. Garza County averages 4.7 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Garza County spike on heavy-rain days, about 4.7 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Garza County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 3.55 inches, and about 49 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
5% of occupied homes in Garza County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Texas county median of 6.5%.
About 102 nights a year here stay at 65°F or warmer, so basements and crawl spaces can grow mold even without a leak.
Local risk profile
With 2,190 homes and around 5,118 residents, Garza County is 893 square miles of northern Texas. The county seat is Post. The county's median home was built in 1973.
57/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Garza County ranks 66 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Garza County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
Garza is on the colder side of Texas for pipes. It averaged 53 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 8 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 232 Texas counties that's 36th.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 9 days below freezing (ending February 2021), and the low bottomed out near 0°F on February 15, 2021.
The freeze season here runs December 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.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Nov 16 and the last spring freeze around Mar 14.
Garza gets fewer downpours than most Texas counties, but they still fill basements. About 4.7 days a year bring an inch or more (177th of 232), most often in September, out of 20.3 inches of total precipitation. On May 5, 2015, 3.55 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 4.23 inches (through May 7, 2015).
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 49 times a year here. They're the main driver of ice dams and of water working its way through foundation cracks in late winter.
Housing
Texas's 232 counties range widely in housing age; Garza ranks 65th, with 57% of its homes built before 1980.
In Garza County 31% 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.
About 24% of homes went up between 1980 and 1999. Some houses from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s were plumbed with polybutylene, a gray plastic pipe known for failing at fittings. A plumber can tell you in a few minutes whether you have it.
12% 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.
With 33% of homes empty at survey time, landlords and seasonal owners should shut off the main or schedule checks in winter. An unheated vacant house is also where many policies limit freeze coverage.
Beyond water
About 102 nights a year in Garza County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (191st of 232 counties). May is the wettest month. 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 expectBy main heating fuel, Garza County homes break down as 42% utility gas, 52% electric, 4% 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 Garza County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Crosby and Lynn get more pipe-freeze nights than Garza. It also has the most heavy-rain days in its area. Crosby County has the oldest housing nearby, with 81% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Garza | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 31% | 20% | 51 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 57% | 46% | 65 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 19% | 26% | 166 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 12% | 13% | 135 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 33% | 17% | 8 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 4.6% | 6.5% | 144 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 8/yr | 3/yr | 36 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 4.7/yr | 7.8/yr | 177 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 49/yr | 27/yr | 40 of 232 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 102/yr | 129/yr | 191 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 Garza County: freezing from December to February, heavy rain in May, June and September.
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