Panola County, Texas · Carthage
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Panola County averages 2 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly midwinter, and 15% of its homes predate 1960.
Basements flood here mostly in April. Panola County averages 16.5 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Panola County gets about 16.5 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 and, with about 25 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
8% of occupied homes in Panola County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Texas county median of 6.5%.
About 133 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 10,853 homes and around 22,726 residents, Panola County is 811 square miles of eastern Texas. Besides Carthage, the county seat, the biggest communities are Beckville and Gary City. The county's median home was built in 1984.
53/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Panola County ranks 97 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Panola County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
For frozen pipes, Panola County is a typical Texas county, which is still plenty. It averaged 26 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 0°F, and in the stretch ending February 2021 the county went 4 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
Expect the hardest freezes in January, inside a season that runs midwinter. That's when an outdoor spigot left connected to a hose, or a pipe in a crawl space, is most likely to split.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Nov 15 and the last spring freeze around Feb 26.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Texas. Of roughly 56.1 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 16.5 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 14th of 232. April, May and December see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 6.37 inches, March 9, 2016. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 10.76 inches (through March 11, 2016).
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 25 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; Panola ranks 131st, with 44% of its homes built before 1980.
31% of homes were built in 2000 or later, more than in most of Texas. Newer plumbing rarely corrodes, so damage here tends to come from appliance supply lines, water heaters, sump pumps and storms.
The 1980s and 1990s account for 26% 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 25% 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.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 133 times a year here, close to the Texas county median of 129. 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 expectMain heating fuel in Panola County's occupied homes: 21% utility gas, 70% electric, 6% propane and 2% wood. Wood heat is above the Texas norm. Annual chimney and vent inspection, which the NFPA recommends, is one of the most effective fire-prevention habits for these homes.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Panola County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Panola gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. Rusk County has the oldest housing nearby, with 49% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Panola | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 15% | 20% | 159 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 44% | 46% | 131 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 31% | 26% | 83 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 25% | 13% | 22 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 18% | 17% | 95 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 7.8% | 6.5% | 97 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 2/yr | 3/yr | 126 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 17/yr | 7.8/yr | 14 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 25/yr | 27/yr | 123 of 232 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 133/yr | 129/yr | 107 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 Panola 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