Arborlook
Arborlook Insights
Risk & Response

Houston County, AL

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 77.6 Relatively High

108,140
Population
16
Departments
28
Stations
26
Census Tracts

Natural Hazard Loss Profile

Expected annual loss across the 18 natural hazards in FEMA's National Risk Index. Life safety is expressed in fatality-equivalents, combining expected deaths and injuries. Property loss counts building damage only, not agriculture.

Natural Hazard Life Safety
1.02
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
14th highest of 67
Life Safety per 100k
0.94
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
35th highest of 67
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$39.8M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
8th highest of 67
Property Loss per Resident
$368
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
19th highest of 67

These figures cover natural hazards only. Structure fire, EMS, and motor vehicle incidents are not in the National Risk Index, so this is not an all-cause life safety measure. For Houston County, the largest single contributor is Tornado, 53% of the life-safety total.

Houston County carries an expected 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $39.8M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 67 Alabama counties. Nationally, Houston County ranks 580th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 1829th for life safety per 100k residents, 465th for property loss, and 1386th for property loss per resident. Computed from census tract data covering every resident, independent of fire department boundaries.

Add fire mortality, cause, and loss

Natural hazard exposure is only part of the risk. Fire deaths and injuries, cause of ignition, and dollar loss per incident come from NERIS incident reporting, which grows as departments serving Houston County enroll. Our Regional tier adds that data for the departments your jurisdiction sponsors, next to public risk and NERIS adoption for every department in Houston County.

Talk to us about Houston County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

72%
25%
Property (buildings): $39.8M (72.1%)
Life safety: $14.0M (25.3%)
Agriculture: $1.4M (2.5%)

Total expected annual loss: $55,198,973 per year. Life safety is shown here in dollars, at FEMA's $13.7M value of statistical life, so the three shares sum to the total.

Hazards Ranked Two Ways

The hazard that threatens people is often not the hazard that destroys buildings. Both columns cover the same 18 hazards over the same year.

By life-safety loss ($/yr)

Tornado
$7.4M
Cold Wave
$2.1M
Heat Wave
$1.2M
Lightning
$1.2M
Strong Wind
$1.1M
Hurricane
$570K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$23.3M
Hurricane
$12.0M
Tornado
$3.5M
Earthquake
$539K
Strong Wind
$268K
Ice Storm
$90K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Houston County. Gray tracts have no modeled loss or no resident population. Per-resident figures on this map use the National Risk Index 2020 tract population.

Fire Service Profile

12%
12%
75%
Career: 12% (2)
Combination: 12% (2)
Volunteer: 75% (12)
Residents per Station
3,862
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
25.9
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 16 departments registered in NERIS Public for Houston County, AL. Departments that have not registered are not counted. Station coverage divides census population by registered stations; department service areas overlap, so their populations are not summed.

Department Rankings

Fire and EMS departments serving Houston County. Click column headers to sort.

NRI Rating is from FEMA's National Risk Index, which measures community risk across 18 natural hazards using expected annual losses, social vulnerability, and community resilience. Life-Safety Loss uses FEMA's Value of Statistical Life ($13.7M per expected fatality) to estimate annual risk to human life.

Department boundaries and station counts are self-reported through NERIS Public and may not reflect current service areas. Population and Life-Safety Loss reflect each department's full jurisdiction. County-level risk metrics are computed from census tract data and are not affected by boundary accuracy. See full methodology.

Showing 16 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Dothan Regional Airport Fire Department 95,349 $12.1M Relatively High 1
Dothan Fire Department 95,288 $12.1M Relatively High 11
Cottonwood Alabama Volunteer Fire Department 25,399 $3.2M Very High 1
Taylor Volunteer Fire Department 20,387 $2.6M Very High 2
Rehobeth Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. 18,225 $2.1M Very High 1
Pansey Volunteer Fire Department 13,774 $1.7M Very High 1
Cowarts Volunteer Fire Department 13,306 $1.7M Relatively High 1
Webb Volunteer Fire Department 13,194 $1.7M Relatively High 1
Ashford Volunteer Fire Department 11,263 $1.4M Relatively High 1
Kinsey Volunteer Fire Department 9,207 $1.3M Very High 1
Bay Springs Volunteer Fire & Rescue Inc. 8,919 $1.1M Relatively High 1
Hodgesville Volunteer Fire Department 8,623 $1.1M Very High 1
Madrid Community Volunteer Fire Department 8,623 $1.1M Very High 1
Southern Junction Volunteer Fire Department 8,623 $1.1M Very High 1
Columbia Fire Rescue 6,677 $880.4K Relatively High 1
Wicksburg Volunteer Fire Rescue Department, Inc. 6,086 $760.0K Very High 2
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

17.5%
Poverty Rate
18.7%
Age 65+
17.1%
Disability Rate
11.2%
Uninsured
43.2%
Pre-1980 Housing
12.7%
Mobile Homes
13.7%
Vacancy Rate
0.1%
Wood Heat
$62,507
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

10
Last 10 Years
19
Last 25 Years
Hurricane
Most Frequent

Every department in your region, on one briefing

Our Regional tier gives state fire marshals and county fire authorities one briefing across every department in the jurisdiction: priority tracts ranked by risk and demand, NERIS adoption by county, and a quarterly report with a page per department. Response times appear for the departments you sponsor. Free 90-day pilot.

Explore the Regional Tier See the Response Demo