Chapter ED Intelligence · Chapter Report
ARC serving North Alabama
Southeast and Caribbean Division · Alabama and Mississippi Region
AL · 12 counties · HQ Huntsville, AL · FEMA Region IV
1,210,608
People
489,101
Households
41.8%
Households below the ALICE survival threshold
12
Counties · 8,404 sq mi
Nearly 42% of households across this chapter live below the ALICE survival threshold — the working families one disaster away from crisis.
In this report · Economic vulnerability · Who lives here · Home fire mission (FLARE) · mission delivery & the bespoke relationship strategy to follow
Sources: American Red Cross geography + 2023 demographics reference table; United Way ALICE + poverty (latest county year).
Geography & Footprint
The chapter's footprint.
12
Counties
8,404
Square miles
1,210,608
People
Alabama and Mississippi Region
Southeast and Caribbean Division
| County | People | Sq mi | % of chapter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Madison | 406,026 | 813 | 33.5% |
| Morgan | 124,960 | 599 | 10.3% |
| Limestone | 111,551 | 607 | 9.2% |
| Etowah | 102,922 | 549 | 8.5% |
| Marshall | 99,025 | 623 | 8.2% |
| Lauderdale | 94,177 | 721 | 7.8% |
| DeKalb | 71,540 | 779 | 5.9% |
| Colbert | 58,319 | 622 | 4.8% |
| Jackson | 52,517 | 1,127 | 4.3% |
| Lawrence | 32,872 | 717 | 2.7% |
| Franklin | 31,976 | 647 | 2.6% |
| Cherokee | 24,723 | 600 | 2.0% |
HQ: Huntsville, AL · FEMA Region IV. Counties sorted by population.
Who Lives Here
The people of this chapter.
41
Median age
$63,238
Median household income
17.4%
Age 65+
29.0%
Renter households
Age distribution
Race & ethnicity
Hispanic / Latino (any race): 8.4% of residents.
Source: American Red Cross 2023 demographics reference table. Chapter figures aggregate the 12 counties; median age and income are population-weighted.
Economic Vulnerability
Where the need is greatest.
| County | People | Median HH income | ALICE | Poverty | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DeKalb | 71,540 | $44,902 | 34.9% | 22.1% | 57.0% |
| Etowah | 102,922 | $46,512 | 33.5% | 19.3% | 52.8% |
| Franklin | 31,976 | $45,101 | 35.3% | 16.4% | 51.8% |
| Jackson | 52,517 | $43,999 | 33.6% | 17.4% | 51.1% |
| Cherokee | 24,723 | $45,817 | 33.9% | 15.9% | 49.8% |
| Marshall | 99,025 | $52,792 | 27.8% | 18.2% | 46.1% |
| Colbert | 58,319 | $55,009 | 29.2% | 16.6% | 45.8% |
| Lawrence | 32,872 | $49,936 | 30.7% | 14.3% | 45.0% |
| Morgan | 124,960 | $57,733 | 27.3% | 11.7% | 39.0% |
| Limestone | 111,551 | $72,808 | 28.9% | 10.0% | 38.9% |
| Lauderdale | 94,177 | $52,843 | 24.6% | 14.1% | 38.7% |
| Madison | 406,026 | $81,968 | 24.3% | 10.5% | 34.8% |
Combined = households in poverty plus ALICE households (above poverty, below the cost of basics), as a share of all county households. Source: United Way ALICE, latest county year.
Risk & Disaster History
What this chapter is up against.
$596.3M
Expected annual loss, all hazards
Madison
Highest-risk county
54.9%
Avg social vulnerability (SVI)
3
FEMA declarations, 5 yr (top county)
| County | NRI risk | Exp. annual loss | SVI %ile | FEMA 5yr | FEMA all |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madison | Relatively High | $179.6M | 35.1% | 1 | 21 |
| Morgan | Relatively Moderate | $65.1M | 67.9% | 3 | 24 |
| Lauderdale | Relatively Moderate | $53.8M | 49.2% | 2 | 20 |
| Etowah | Relatively Moderate | $50.3M | 67.2% | 1 | 29 |
| Marshall | Relatively Moderate | $50.2M | 62.0% | 1 | 29 |
| Limestone | Relatively Low | $47.6M | 32.3% | 1 | 22 |
| Colbert | Relatively Low | $34.9M | 44.7% | 2 | 24 |
| DeKalb | Relatively Low | $31.6M | 75.6% | 1 | 34 |
| Jackson | Relatively Low | $29.4M | 71.9% | 1 | 28 |
| Lawrence | Relatively Low | $20.5M | 36.2% | 1 | 22 |
| Franklin | Relatively Low | $17.2M | 75.8% | 1 | 22 |
| Cherokee | Relatively Low | $16.1M | 40.6% | 1 | 25 |
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index 2025 (risk rating, expected annual loss), CDC/ATSDR SVI 2022 (social-vulnerability percentile), FEMA disaster declarations — via the Red Cross national county database.
Disaster History
A chapter shaped by disaster.
49
Federal disaster declarations
9
Hurricanes
Severe Storm
Most common type
2024
Most recent
By incident type
Most recent declarations
| FY | Disaster | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Hurricane Helene | Hurricane |
| 2023 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Tornadoes | Severe Storm |
| 2023 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Tornadoes | Severe Storm |
| 2021 | Hurricane Zeta | Hurricane |
| 2020 | Hurricane Sally | Hurricane |
| 2020 | Severe Thunderstorms | Severe Storm |
| 2020 | Severe Storms And Flooding | Severe Storm |
| 2020 | Covid-19 Pandemic | Biological |
| 2020 | Covid-19 | Biological |
| 2019 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Severe Storm |
Source: FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 — county-level, deduplicated to unique disasters.
Home Fire Mission · FLARE 2024
Every home fire is a Red Cross moment.
525
Home fires (2024)
61.5%
Red Cross care rate
127
Fires with no Red Cross notification
4.3
Fires per 10,000 residents
Red Cross cared for 62% of home fires — but 127 (24%) happened with no Red Cross notification: the prevention, smoke-alarm, and response opportunity, county by county.
Source: FLARE Fire Incidents 2024 (American Red Cross, public layer). “With care” = Red Cross provided assistance; “no notification” = the Red Cross was never alerted to the fire.
Home Fire · Respond & Prevent
Red Cross shows up — and prevents.
2,075
Home-fire calls answered (RC response)
2,005
Single-family fire responses
3,082
Free smoke alarms installed
70
Multi-family fire responses
Red Cross answered 2,075 home-fire calls and installed 3,082 free smoke alarms across the chapter — response and prevention, county by county.
Sources: DRO National 800-RedCross Calls by County (RC fire responses); Smoke Alarm Installs FY15–FY24 (American Red Cross).
Red Cross Facilities
The chapter's physical footprint.
3
Red Cross facilities
0
Owned
3
Leased / licensed
1
BioMed sites
By type / function
BioMed facilities
Huntsville AL Blood Donation CenterPlatelets & Red Cells
Sources: Red Cross real-estate portfolio (reintel.jbf.com) + BioMed facilities (biomed.jbf.com).
Locations, types and functions only — no cost, square footage, or lease terms are disclosed.
Red Cross Philanthropy · Major Donors
Who gives here.
Major-donor giving across the chapter — three fiscal years. Internal planning data.
$733,135
Total giving, 3-year
35
Major donors
$154,042
Current FY · ▼ 65% vs prior FY
$586,805
Top: Madison
| County | Major donors | Total giving, 3-year |
|---|---|---|
| Madison | 28 | $586,805 |
| Marshall | 1 | $58,125 |
| Morgan | 1 | $33,955 |
| Franklin | 1 | $14,500 |
| DeKalb | 1 | $10,000 |
| Etowah | 1 | $10,000 |
| Lauderdale | 1 | $10,000 |
| Limestone | 1 | $9,750 |
Source: Red Cross major-donor giving by county, three fiscal years.
Internal / executive-director planning use — not donor-facing.
County Deep Dive
Madison County
406,026
People
$81,968
Median HH income
34.8%
Combined ALICE + poverty
Relatively High
FEMA NRI risk
People & economy
Median age39.7
ALICE households41,069
Poverty households17,721
Risk & response
Expected annual loss$179.6M
Social vulnerability (SVI)35.1%
FEMA declarations (all time)21
Home fires, CY2024145
Fires, no RC notification42
Bridge assistance · DRO 220-25—
Major-donor giving · 3-yr$586,805
Madison County · sources: Red Cross demographics 2023, United Way ALICE, FEMA NRI & declarations, FLARE CY2024.
County Deep Dive
Morgan County
124,960
People
$57,733
Median HH income
39.0%
Combined ALICE + poverty
Relatively Moderate
FEMA NRI risk
People & economy
Median age41.5
ALICE households13,589
Poverty households5,836
Risk & response
Expected annual loss$65.1M
Social vulnerability (SVI)67.9%
FEMA declarations (all time)24
Home fires, CY202448
Fires, no RC notification13
Bridge assistance · DRO 220-25—
Major-donor giving · 3-yr$33,955
Morgan County · sources: Red Cross demographics 2023, United Way ALICE, FEMA NRI & declarations, FLARE CY2024.
County Deep Dive
Limestone County
111,551
People
$72,808
Median HH income
38.9%
Combined ALICE + poverty
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk
People & economy
Median age40.3
ALICE households11,570
Poverty households4,006
Risk & response
Expected annual loss$47.6M
Social vulnerability (SVI)32.3%
FEMA declarations (all time)22
Home fires, CY202431
Fires, no RC notification3
Bridge assistance · DRO 220-25—
Major-donor giving · 3-yr$9,750
Limestone County · sources: Red Cross demographics 2023, United Way ALICE, FEMA NRI & declarations, FLARE CY2024.
County Deep Dive
Etowah County
102,922
People
$46,512
Median HH income
52.8%
Combined ALICE + poverty
Relatively Moderate
FEMA NRI risk
People & economy
Median age43.5
ALICE households13,399
Poverty households7,716
Risk & response
Expected annual loss$50.3M
Social vulnerability (SVI)67.2%
FEMA declarations (all time)29
Home fires, CY202491
Fires, no RC notification23
Bridge assistance · DRO 220-25—
Major-donor giving · 3-yr$10,000
Etowah County · sources: Red Cross demographics 2023, United Way ALICE, FEMA NRI & declarations, FLARE CY2024.
County Deep Dive
Marshall County
99,025
People
$52,792
Median HH income
46.1%
Combined ALICE + poverty
Relatively Moderate
FEMA NRI risk
People & economy
Median age40.6
ALICE households10,095
Poverty households6,616
Risk & response
Expected annual loss$50.2M
Social vulnerability (SVI)62.0%
FEMA declarations (all time)29
Home fires, CY202438
Fires, no RC notification7
Bridge assistance · DRO 220-25—
Major-donor giving · 3-yr$58,125
Marshall County · sources: Red Cross demographics 2023, United Way ALICE, FEMA NRI & declarations, FLARE CY2024.
County Deep Dive
Lauderdale County
94,177
People
$52,843
Median HH income
38.7%
Combined ALICE + poverty
Relatively Moderate
FEMA NRI risk
People & economy
Median age43.1
ALICE households10,129
Poverty households5,827
Risk & response
Expected annual loss$53.8M
Social vulnerability (SVI)49.2%
FEMA declarations (all time)20
Home fires, CY202434
Fires, no RC notification8
Bridge assistance · DRO 220-25—
Major-donor giving · 3-yr$10,000
Lauderdale County · sources: Red Cross demographics 2023, United Way ALICE, FEMA NRI & declarations, FLARE CY2024.
County Deep Dive
DeKalb County
71,540
People
$44,902
Median HH income
57.0%
Combined ALICE + poverty
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk
People & economy
Median age40.1
ALICE households9,476
Poverty households6,005
Risk & response
Expected annual loss$31.6M
Social vulnerability (SVI)75.6%
FEMA declarations (all time)34
Home fires, CY202430
Fires, no RC notification8
Bridge assistance · DRO 220-25—
Major-donor giving · 3-yr$10,000
DeKalb County · sources: Red Cross demographics 2023, United Way ALICE, FEMA NRI & declarations, FLARE CY2024.
County Deep Dive
Colbert County
58,319
People
$55,009
Median HH income
45.8%
Combined ALICE + poverty
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk
People & economy
Median age44.3
ALICE households7,063
Poverty households4,031
Risk & response
Expected annual loss$34.9M
Social vulnerability (SVI)44.7%
FEMA declarations (all time)24
Home fires, CY202428
Fires, no RC notification4
Bridge assistance · DRO 220-25—
Major-donor giving · 3-yr—
Colbert County · sources: Red Cross demographics 2023, United Way ALICE, FEMA NRI & declarations, FLARE CY2024.
County Deep Dive
Jackson County
52,517
People
$43,999
Median HH income
51.1%
Combined ALICE + poverty
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk
People & economy
Median age44.7
ALICE households7,129
Poverty households3,689
Risk & response
Expected annual loss$29.4M
Social vulnerability (SVI)71.9%
FEMA declarations (all time)28
Home fires, CY202435
Fires, no RC notification8
Bridge assistance · DRO 220-25—
Major-donor giving · 3-yr—
Jackson County · sources: Red Cross demographics 2023, United Way ALICE, FEMA NRI & declarations, FLARE CY2024.
County Deep Dive
Lawrence County
32,872
People
$49,936
Median HH income
45.0%
Combined ALICE + poverty
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk
People & economy
Median age43.1
ALICE households4,029
Poverty households1,882
Risk & response
Expected annual loss$20.5M
Social vulnerability (SVI)36.2%
FEMA declarations (all time)22
Home fires, CY202417
Fires, no RC notification3
Bridge assistance · DRO 220-25—
Major-donor giving · 3-yr—
Lawrence County · sources: Red Cross demographics 2023, United Way ALICE, FEMA NRI & declarations, FLARE CY2024.
County Deep Dive
Franklin County
31,976
People
$45,101
Median HH income
51.8%
Combined ALICE + poverty
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk
People & economy
Median age40.3
ALICE households4,098
Poverty households1,905
Risk & response
Expected annual loss$17.2M
Social vulnerability (SVI)75.8%
FEMA declarations (all time)22
Home fires, CY202412
Fires, no RC notification3
Bridge assistance · DRO 220-25—
Major-donor giving · 3-yr$14,500
Franklin County · sources: Red Cross demographics 2023, United Way ALICE, FEMA NRI & declarations, FLARE CY2024.
County Deep Dive
Cherokee County
24,723
People
$45,817
Median HH income
49.8%
Combined ALICE + poverty
Relatively Low
FEMA NRI risk
People & economy
Median age46.8
ALICE households3,551
Poverty households1,671
Risk & response
Expected annual loss$16.1M
Social vulnerability (SVI)40.6%
FEMA declarations (all time)25
Home fires, CY202416
Fires, no RC notification5
Bridge assistance · DRO 220-25—
Major-donor giving · 3-yr—
Cherokee County · sources: Red Cross demographics 2023, United Way ALICE, FEMA NRI & declarations, FLARE CY2024.
Your Live Tools
The chapter's Experience Builder apps & federal tools.
Red Cross Intelligence Briefing
Chapter risk, hardship, hazards & county drilldowns
experience.arcgis.com
Disaster Response Intelligence
Spatial disaster-response intelligence
Experience Builder app
Red Cross Real Estate
Facilities & market intelligence
experience.arcgis.com
Service Area Planning
Service-area geography & planning
Experience Builder app
Community Mobilization V
Local resource & mobilization map
experience.arcgis.com
Biomed
Blood & BioMed footprint
experience.arcgis.com
FEMA RAPT
Resilience analysis & planning
www.fema.gov
Census Community Resilience
People & resilience context
www.census.gov
Red Cross Experience Builder apps give the live, drill-down companion to this report; federal tools add official context.
Sources & Methodology
Every number, traceable.
Tools produce facts; humans own decisions. Each figure in this report traces to a named source and vintage.
| Metric | Source | Vintage |
|---|---|---|
| geography + 2023 demographics | ALICE master / Red Cross reference table | 2023 |
| ALICE + poverty households | MASTER counties ALICE+demographics | 2023 |
| flare | flare_fire_incidents (public AGOL, CY24) | CY2024 |
| smoke_alarms | GIS_MAP_FY15_to_FY24 (AGOL item b09f21d9…) | FY15–24 |
| lives_saved | Lives_Saved_Map_30_Apr_2026 (AGOL item ff313330…) | 2026 |
| risk + disaster history | FEMA NRI 2025 · CDC SVI 2022 · FEMA declarations (red-cross-data county master) | FEMA NRI 2025 · SVI 2022 |
| fema disaster history | FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 | 2026 |
| facilities / real estate (no costs) | Red Cross facilities portfolio — reintel.jbf.com (locations, types & ownership only; no cost/lease terms) | FY25 |
| home-fire RC responses (SFF/MFF) | DRO National 800-RedCross Calls by County (org AGOL) | FY24–26 |
Geography: American Red Cross chapter↔county reference. The full machine-readable source ledger ships with the data bundle.
Appendix · County Data
Full county table.
| County | Pop | Households | Hardship | NRI risk | Exp. annual loss | Fires '24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madison | 406,026 | 166,532 | 34.8% | Relatively High | $179.6M | 145 |
| Morgan | 124,960 | 50,078 | 39.0% | Relatively Moderate | $65.1M | 48 |
| Limestone | 111,551 | 42,660 | 38.9% | Relatively Low | $47.6M | 31 |
| Etowah | 102,922 | 41,937 | 52.8% | Relatively Moderate | $50.3M | 91 |
| Marshall | 99,025 | 37,883 | 46.1% | Relatively Moderate | $50.2M | 38 |
| Lauderdale | 94,177 | 39,953 | 38.7% | Relatively Moderate | $53.8M | 34 |
| DeKalb | 71,540 | 27,193 | 57.0% | Relatively Low | $31.6M | 30 |
| Colbert | 58,319 | 25,036 | 45.8% | Relatively Low | $34.9M | 28 |
| Jackson | 52,517 | 21,834 | 51.1% | Relatively Low | $29.4M | 35 |
| Lawrence | 32,872 | 13,517 | 45.0% | Relatively Low | $20.5M | 17 |
| Franklin | 31,976 | 12,118 | 51.8% | Relatively Low | $17.2M | 12 |
| Cherokee | 24,723 | 10,360 | 49.8% | Relatively Low | $16.1M | 16 |
One row per county. Combined hardship = poverty + ALICE households. Fires = FLARE CY2024.