San Augustine County, Texas · San Augustine
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San Augustine County averages 1 night a year at 20°F or colder, mostly midwinter, and 15% of its homes predate 1960.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 17.2 times a year here, most often in May. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which San Augustine County gets about 17.2 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
In San Augustine County, 6.29 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
10% of occupied homes in San Augustine County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Texas county median of 6.5%.
About 135 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
San Augustine County covers 531 square miles of eastern Texas, with about 7,874 residents and 4,814 homes. San Augustine is the county seat; Broaddus is the next largest community. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1989.
49/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated San Augustine County ranks 132 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where San Augustine County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
Winters here are on the gentler end for Texas, and pipes still freeze. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 1 night a year at or below 20°F (159th of 232) and 21 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
The longest cold spell was straight 3 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in February 2021. The coldest night reached about 6°F on February 16, 2021. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
Hard freezes are uncommon here, about 21 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 6°F on February 16, 2021.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Texas. About 17.2 days a year bring an inch or more (10th of 232), most often in May, out of 59.4 inches of total precipitation. On March 29, 2018, 6.29 inches fell in a single day. The worst three-day stretch dropped 8.78 inches, ending March 11, 2016, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 21 days a year swing from below freezing at night to above freezing by day. Those freeze-thaw cycles feed ice dams on roofs, open cracks in foundations and driveways, and stress pipes that are already marginal.
Housing
Roughly 39% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts San Augustine among the newer housing stocks of Texas's 232 counties.
Older and newer homes sit side by side here: 15% predate 1960 and 21% are from 2000 or later. Corroded pipe is the typical failure in the first group, burst supply hoses in the second.
41% 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.
Here 35% 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.
39% of homes were vacant at survey time. A leak in an empty rental or seasonal house can run for days before anyone notices, which is why those losses tend to be larger.
Beyond water
About 135 nights a year in San Augustine County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (101st 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In San Augustine County it's 19% utility gas, 70% electric, 6% propane and 3% 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 San Augustine County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Nacogdoches, Sabine and Shelby get more pipe-freeze nights than San Augustine. Shelby County has the oldest housing nearby, with 43% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | San Augustine | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 15% | 20% | 158 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 39% | 46% | 159 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 21% | 26% | 155 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 35% | 13% | 8 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 39% | 17% | 5 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 9.5% | 6.5% | 75 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 1/yr | 3/yr | 159 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 17/yr | 7.8/yr | 10 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 21/yr | 27/yr | 142 of 232 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 135/yr | 129/yr | 101 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 San Augustine County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in January, April and May.
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