Medina County, Texas · Hondo
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Pipes freeze in Medina County on about 1 night a year, mostly midwinter. Older homes, 14% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in May. Medina County averages 6 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Medina County spike on heavy-rain days, about 6 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.
8% of occupied homes in Medina 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 158 times a year in Medina County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
Medina County covers 1,325 square miles of southern Texas, with about 53,547 residents and 19,890 homes. Hondo is the county seat; Devine, Castroville and LaCoste are the next largest communities. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1996.
36/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Medina County ranks 206 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Medina County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
Winters here are on the gentler end for Texas, and pipes still freeze. It averaged 14 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 1 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 159th.
Hard freezes are uncommon here, about 14 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 11°F on February 16, 2021.
Rainfall is about average for Texas. Of roughly 25.3 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 6 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 149th of 232. May, August and September see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 2.77 inches, December 3, 2016. The worst three-day stretch dropped 5.77 inches, ending December 5, 2016, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
Housing
Texas's 232 counties range widely in housing age; Medina ranks 194th, with 29% of its homes built before 1980.
Growth since 2000 added 42% of today's homes. In houses that new, the weak points are washing machine hoses, ice maker lines, water heaters and sump pumps rather than the pipes in the walls.
About 28% 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.
Here 25% of housing is manufactured homes. Check the skirting and the heat tape on the main water line every fall, because that one exposed line is what freezes.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 158 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 expectMain heating fuel in Medina County's occupied homes: 16% utility gas, 76% electric, 8% propane and under 1% wood. Most homes here heat with gas or electricity, so cooking and electrical faults are the likelier fire sources. Even a contained kitchen fire can send soot through the ductwork to every room.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Medina County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Bandera gets more pipe-freeze nights than Medina. Uvalde County has the oldest housing nearby, with 44% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Medina | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 14% | 20% | 162 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 29% | 46% | 194 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 42% | 26% | 35 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 25% | 13% | 19 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 11% | 17% | 185 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 8% | 6.5% | 92 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 1/yr | 3/yr | 159 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 6/yr | 7.8/yr | 149 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 14/yr | 27/yr | 168 of 232 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 158/yr | 129/yr | 54 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 Medina 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