SMYRNA, Ga. - GeorgiaChron -- Smyrna Water Restoration has published a sourced statistics page covering water damage risk for homeowners in Smyrna and the wider Cobb County area. Every figure on the page links to its original source, and the company has invited other sites to cite the data.

Seven figures make up the set. The Insurance Information Institute puts the average US water damage and freezing claim at $15,400 across the period 2019 to 2023, and reports that water damage and freezing accounted for 22.6 percent of US homeowners insurance claims in 2023. Only wind and hail cause more. The same data puts the annual claim rate at roughly 1.5 in every 100 insured homes, which means the risk compounds the longer someone stays in one house.

Two figures are specific to the area. NOAA's 1991-2020 climate normals put Atlanta area rainfall at 50.4 inches a year, well above the national picture, which keeps gutters, grading and crawl spaces under steady pressure. Cobb County Water System estimates that 85 percent of sewer blockages in the county are grease-related and occur in residential areas, making kitchen-line backups a common local cause of contaminated water.

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Timing runs through the whole set. The US Environmental Protection Agency notes that mold can begin growing on wet materials within 24 to 48 hours of exposure, a window that often closes before an insurance adjuster has visited. The Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety attributes 69 percent of water heater failures to a slow leak or a sudden burst, and the slow version can run inside a wall for weeks before a stain appears.

"Published figures make the risk easier to explain than anything a restoration company could say about itself," a spokesperson for Smyrna Water Restoration said. "The mold window surprises people most, because it tends to close before the insurance side has even started."

The statistics page sits alongside a water damage glossary and a printable insurance claim checklist on the company's site. Smyrna Water Restoration provides water damage restoration in Smyrna, Vinings, Mableton, Marietta and across Cobb County, covering emergency water extraction, structural drying, mold remediation, sewage cleanup and storm damage. The work is carried out by licensed, bonded and insured contractors.

Read the full statistics page at https://smyrnawaterrestoration.com/georgia-water-damage-statistics

More about the company at https://smyrnawaterrestoration.com/