It’s a briefing on a tornado that touched down in Clark County, or a big fire or terrorist attack.

The message tells you what happened and what firefighters, police, paramedics and other emergency officials are doing about it.

The service is free in a new blog from Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency, which operates the 911 center and also plans and coordinates responses to emergencies.

Other emergencies that could occur include flooding, earthquakes, communicable diseases, extreme heat and volcanic ashfall, according to a bulletin from Cheryl Bledsoe, an emergency manager with CRESA.

The new blog is a response to the way people communicate these days, such as during the Virginia Tech massacre on April 16, 2007.

“YouTube videos and text messages were captured real-time and downloaded to the Internet faster than police and emergency response vehicles could arrive to the scene,” the bulletin said.

Clark County residents who subscribe to the blog will get updates of major emergencies. When none occurs, the e-mail will be updated weekly with information about community events and ways people can be trained as volunteers to help in emergencies.

Besides regular e-mails, the information can be obtained on Skype, AOL Instant Messenger, Twitter (public or private), Microsoft Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger.

Since it’s an “open-source public blog,” users may see advertising, but it won’t be selected or endorsed by CRESA, the bulletin says.

To subscribe, visit www.cresa911.org or www.cresa911.blogspot.com.

John Branton covers public safety. He is at 360-735-4513 or john.branton@columbian.com.