Houston County, Texas · Crockett
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Pipes freeze in Houston County on about 2 nights a year, mostly midwinter. Older homes, 18% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in April. Houston County averages 16.1 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Houston County spike on heavy-rain days, about 16.1 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Roof leaks here come from summer downpours. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
15% of occupied homes in Houston 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 142 times a year in Houston County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
Houston County covers 1,231 square miles of eastern Texas, with about 22,051 residents and 10,837 homes. Crockett is the county seat; Grapeland, Lovelady and Kennard are the next largest communities. Half the homes here were built before 1981, half after.
58/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Houston County ranks 60 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Houston County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
Pipe-freeze risk in Houston County sits near the middle of the state. It averaged 20 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 2 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 126th.
On February 16, 2021 the low fell to about 2°F, and in the stretch ending February 2021 the county went 5 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
Hard freezes are uncommon here, about 20 nights a year at or below 32°F, and that's exactly why they do damage: pipes in attics, exterior walls and slab-edge plumbing are rarely insulated. The coldest night in the record was about 2°F on February 16, 2021.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Texas. Of roughly 52.3 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 16.1 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 17th of 232. April, May and December see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 4.45 inches, December 8, 2018. The worst three-day stretch dropped 7.49 inches, ending August 29, 2017, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
Housing
Roughly 48% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Houston near the middle of Texas's 232 counties.
The mix runs from 18% built before 1960 to 19% built since 2000, so older neighborhoods bring aging pipe while newer subdivisions bring failed appliance lines and water heaters.
32% 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.
18% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, above 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.
The Census counted 26% 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 142 times a year here, above the Texas county median of 129. 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, Houston County homes break down as 19% utility gas, 64% electric, 14% propane and under 1% wood. Propane heat is more common here than the state median. Have chimneys swept and fuel-burning appliances serviced each fall, and keep three feet clear around stoves and space heaters.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Houston County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Houston gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. It also has the most heavy-rain days in its area. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Houston | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 18% | 20% | 128 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 48% | 46% | 105 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 19% | 26% | 163 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 18% | 13% | 65 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 26% | 17% | 32 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 15% | 6.5% | 29 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 2/yr | 3/yr | 126 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 16/yr | 7.8/yr | 17 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 19/yr | 27/yr | 151 of 232 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 142/yr | 129/yr | 78 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 Houston County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in April, May and December.
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