@JS......Abby mentioned the cabin was still warm. Which meant the heat had been on. So, the water would have been o.k. (pipes). However, when you leave a cabin unoccupied during the winter, you always ....shut off the water supply, and drain the lines. And you put anti=-freeze in the drains. You absolutely, positively shut off the water, though.
If you don't, if a waterpipe freezes, and perhaps cracks, when it melts/thaws, etc. then the water would be running constantly, and ...yep.....floodville.
In my opinion, that was NOT the Horton cabin. First, it was never referred to as such, which it has always been in the past. Abby only said Hope had gone to Smith Island. She never said, Hope went to the Horton cabin, or is at the Horton cabin. Still think it amazing that the lake/river is open.