The National Fire Weather Service has reported a Red Flag Warning for all of the mountains of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties from 5 a.m. Wednesday until 5 p.m. Friday, May 3. In the Santa Monica Mountains Malibu area, the Red Flag will be in effect from 8 p.m. Wednesday through 5 p.m. Friday, with the strongest Northwest gusty winds up to 55 m.p.h. and low relative humidities possibly reaching the single digits. Coastal area temperatures are expected within the high 80′s and low 90′s between Thursday and Friday.

While the winds are expected to subside on Friday, very warm temperatures and low humidities will continue and Red Flag Warnings may need to be extended over part or all areas of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties into the weekend.

Red Flag warnings issued by the National Weather Service identify time periods when conditions are ideal for wildfires. During Red Flag warnings it is especially important to:

• Report any signs of smoke immediately to emergency responders. If on the Malibu campus call Public Safety at (310) 506-4441. At all other locations report smoke by calling 911.
• Use caution when disposing of cigarettes and ensure that they are completely extinguished.
• Minimize any use of open flame in outdoor settings.

Pepperdine Public Safety is monitoring the situation and is prepared to respond to potential wildfires. Additional information regarding Red Flag warnings and Pepperdine’s wildfire response plans is available on the University’s Emergency Information Page, http://emergency.pepperdine.edu, and in the Emergency Preparedness Guide found in WaveNet beginning on page 14.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reports that “All the available information continues to indicate Hawaii, Alaska, the U.S. Territories, and the U.S. West Coast are not expected to experience any harmful levels of radioactivity,” despite the reports of low concentrations of radioactive particles heading eastward from Japan.

On April 8, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that there are no radiation related health risks to individuals outside of Japan. Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control remains confident that there will be no serious health consequences here in the U.S.

The U.S. continues to monitor the situation through Radnet, a system of 100 radiation monitors overseen by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Pepperdine University officials are also following developments for any changes. Additional information is available from the resources below:

• The California Department of Public Health has opened a phone hotline to address concerns regarding local radiation exposure. The hotline is (916) 341-3947.
• The Centers for Disease Control has also opened a line for those with questions (800) CDC-INFO or (800) 232-4696. Additional information is available on their web site http://emergency.cdc.gov/radiation/.
• The World Health Organization www.who.int
• The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission http://www.nrc.gov/
• The Environmental Protection Agency http://www.epa.gov/radiation/
• Southern California Air Quality Management District http://www.aqmd.gov/news1/2011/Radiationmonitoring.htm
• EPA link to common sources of radiation exposure in everyday life (please scroll to the bottom of the page) http://www.epa.gov/rpdweb00/understand/perspective.html

State and federal health officials do not believe that radiation from Japan will create a harmful health threat to the U.S. west coast. Nevertheless, Pepperdine University officials are closely monitoring the situation for any changes. The U.S. Department of Energy has activated the National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center to determine how the radiation would disperse in the atmosphere from Fukushima, and we are following that progress. At this time there are no indications of a risk to the U.S. west coast. Pepperdine remains poised and prepared to respond to various types of emergencies; we maintain food, water, medical, and other supplies for use in an emergency, and our staff practices emergency response. We communicate widely to our student community so that all should know how and where to get instructions during emergencies. Please see our emergency webpage at emergency.pepperdine.edu for further information.