A study of January's Los Angeles County wildfires conducted by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety found that Class A roofs, noncombustible siding, enclosed eaves and double-pane windows are four key features that harden homes against wildfire risk. Homes with all four features have a 54% probability of avoiding damage, compared with 36% for those with only one such feature, the study found. IBHS also emphasized the importance of maintaining defensible spaces free of vegetation and other combustible materials around a home.

A group of House Republicans and Democrats filed the National Flood Insurance Program Automatic Extension Act, which is designed to keep the NFIP's core operations running if Congress fails to reauthorize the program on time. "During the recent government shutdown, families were unable to renew or access new flood insurance policies -- removing a valuable lifeline for so many people," said Rep. Julia Letlow, R-La.

The Trump administration is preparing to release a major Federal Emergency Management Agency overhaul plan, steering away from earlier proposals to eliminate the agency. The plan, shaped by a review council led by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, is expected to recommend reducing FEMA funding to states over time and potentially making FEMA a cabinet-level agency. The FEMA Review Council is scheduled to vote on the plan today, with a public comment period to follow.

Florida insurer of last resort Citizens Property Insurance is pursuing a 2.6% average rate decrease for personal-lines customers in 2026, marking the first such reduction it has sought in 11 years. "Critical reforms championed by Gov. [Ron] DeSantis and approved by the Florida Legislature have done what they were supposed to do: provide rate relief to policyholders and stability to the Florida market," said Citizens President, CEO and Executive Director Tim Cerio.

A Waymo recall of 3,067 vehicles provided a software update to resolve a problem that caused some of the company's vehicles to illegally drive past stopped school buses, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Waymo applied the update by Nov. 17 to certain vehicles with the company's fifth-generation automated driving system, NHTSA said.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved an additional $33 million in public assistance grants for the recovery from Hurricane Helene in North Carolina. Such grant funding for the state's Helene recovery now totals more than $1 billion. The funding will cover repairs to infrastructure, including a dam in Asheville and roads in several counties.

A state of emergency is in effect in Washington as rivers reached record levels due to heavy rain from an atmospheric river, with evacuations ordered for everyone in the 100-year floodplain of the Skagit River, which is forecast to crest 15 feet above its threshold for major flood stage. Water rescues have been conducted where people were stranded in vehicles, and Gov. Bob Ferguson said evacuation orders could ultimately be issued for up to 100,000 people.

OpenAI's forthcoming AI models might present a "high" level of cyberrisk as their technical abilities progress, the company said. The models could be used to devise zero-day remote exploits or facilitate intricate attacks targeting enterprise and industrial systems, potentially resulting in serious real-world consequences, OpenAI warned.

The Federal Reserve's quarter-percentage-point interest-rate cut this week faced signi