Kinney County, Texas · Brackettville
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With 15% 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.
September brings the most downpours to Kinney County, part of 5.1 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Kinney County gets about 5.1 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In Kinney County, 4.03 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
18% of occupied homes in Kinney County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Texas county median of 6.5%.
About 156 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
Kinney County covers 1,361 square miles of southern Texas, with about 3,157 residents and 1,482 homes. The county seat is Brackettville, and Fort Clark Springs and Spofford round out the largest towns. Half the homes here were built before 1983, half after.
34/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Kinney County ranks 214 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Kinney County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
Winters here are on the gentler end for Texas, and pipes still freeze. 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 12 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 159th of 232 counties.
Hard freezes are uncommon here, about 12 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 13°F on February 15, 2021.
Kinney gets fewer downpours than most Texas counties, but they still fill basements. About 5.1 days a year bring an inch or more (169th of 232), most often in September, out of 21.8 inches of total precipitation. On June 4, 2019, 4.03 inches fell in a single day. The worst three-day stretch dropped 5.88 inches, ending June 5, 2019, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
Housing
Texas's 232 counties range widely in housing age; Kinney ranks 140th, with 42% of its homes built before 1980.
Older and newer homes sit side by side here: 15% predate 1960 and 5% are from 2000 or later. Corroded pipe is the typical failure in the first group, burst supply hoses in the second.
The 1980s and 1990s account for 53% 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 24% 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.
With 22% 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
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 156 times a year here, above the Texas county median of 129. Keep indoor humidity under 60%, as the EPA advises, and dry any leak within 24 to 48 hours; in a humid month a wet basement left alone won't dry by itself.
Mold remediation: what to expectBy main heating fuel, Kinney County homes break down as 8% utility gas, 75% electric, 18% propane and under 1% wood. Propane heat is more common here than in most Texas counties. Heating equipment is one of the leading causes of home fires nationally, and the NFPA recommends having chimneys and vents inspected every year.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Kinney County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Val Verde gets more pipe-freeze nights than Kinney. Val Verde County has the oldest housing nearby, with 46% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Kinney | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 15% | 20% | 157 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 42% | 46% | 140 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 5.1% | 26% | 230 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 24% | 13% | 29 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 22% | 17% | 60 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 18% | 6.5% | 14 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 1/yr | 3/yr | 159 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 5.1/yr | 7.8/yr | 169 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 12/yr | 27/yr | 177 of 232 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 156/yr | 129/yr | 59 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 Kinney County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in May, August 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