I just learned about this.
Nixle sends important community info to my inbox or phone for free.
Here's a brief explanation from their website:
Nixle's Community Information Service helps keep you and your family safe, informed, and connected to your community 24/7. With emergency alerts, important advisories, community updates, and traffic information, you'll receive up-to-date information impacting the areas near you by cell phone, e-mail and on the web. To learn more about Nixle, visit
http://www.nixle.com/about.html.
Try it out. It's cool.