My BIL is a plumber....he keeps about 20 on hand for all occasions. I’ve had one heater bust (rust) after about 10 years. The one thing I did when I replaced it was to make sure a drain pan was put in. Otherwise, if you don’t have the WH in a place where 55 gallons can dump out and dry, you got a big drying up problem.
Mine is in my concrete floor basement not far from the boat door, so I don’t much care about a spill.
Some older homes here in the Kalifornia low desert have "closets" in the interior to hold the water heater.
People have been know to switch, shut it down in summer, and use that for their cold water, and the 'cold' tap as their hot.