Greensville County, Virginia · Emporia
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Pipes freeze in Greensville County on about 8 nights a year, mostly December to February. Older homes, 18% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in September. Greensville County averages 11.4 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
18% of homes here predate 1960, when clay and cast iron sewer laterals were standard. Roots and cracks in those lines are a common cause of backups.
Greensville County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 5.05 inches, and about 67 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
18% of occupied homes in Greensville County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Virginia county median of 11.9%.
With 85 muggy nights a year, mold in Greensville County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
Greensville County covers 295 square miles of southeast Virginia, with about 11,275 residents and 4,026 homes. The county seat is Emporia, and Jarratt is the other large town. Half the homes here were built before 1979, half after.
50/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Greensville County ranks 51 of 95 Virginia counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Greensville County ranks highest compared with other Virginia counties.
Winters here are on the gentler end for Virginia, and pipes still freeze. It averaged 68 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 8 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 95 Virginia counties that's 79th.
The longest cold spell was straight 3 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in January 2017. The coldest night reached about -2°F on January 7, 2018. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
Most freezing nights fall from December to February, peaking in January. Disconnect garden hoses and shut off outdoor spigots before the first hard frost, and keep the heat at 55°F or higher if you'll be away.
Freezing nights typically start around Nov 11 and end around Mar 27.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Virginia. The county gets about 49.4 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 11.4 days of an inch or more (11th of 95). Those downpours cluster in June, August and September, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 5.05 inches on October 9, 2016. The worst three-day stretch dropped 5.9 inches, ending October 9, 2016, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 67 days a year. Each cycle melts and refreezes water at roof edges and in foundation cracks, which is how ice dams and basement seepage get started.
Housing
Roughly 52% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Greensville among the oldest housing stocks of Virginia's 95 counties.
The mix runs from 18% built before 1960 to 18% built since 2000, so older neighborhoods bring aging pipe while newer subdivisions bring failed appliance lines and water heaters.
About 30% 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 19% 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.
21% 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.
Renters occupy 34% of homes. If you rent, the building is usually the landlord's to repair, but your belongings are only covered by renters insurance.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 85 times a year here, above the Virginia county median of 64. 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 expectMain heating fuel in Greensville County's occupied homes: 1% utility gas, 70% electric, 17% propane and under 1% wood. Propane heat is more common here than in most Virginia 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 Greensville County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Brunswick and Dinwiddie get more pipe-freeze nights than Greensville. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Greensville | Virginia median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 18% | 20% | 59 of 95 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 52% | 46% | 21 of 95 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 18% | 25% | 78 of 95 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 19% | 9.6% | 23 of 95 |
| Vacant homes | 21% | 15% | 24 of 95 |
| Wood or propane heat | 18% | 12% | 28 of 95 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 8/yr | 14/yr | 79 of 95 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 11/yr | 10/yr | 11 of 95 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 67/yr | 77/yr | 77 of 95 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 85/yr | 64/yr | 16 of 95 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Virginia county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Greensville County: freezing from December to February, heavy rain in June, 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