A furious Queensland mayor has unleashed a blistering attack on the Bureau of Meteorology, accusing it of relying on ‘antiquated’ data to issue a flood warning.
Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson claimed BoM issued major flood warnings at Mirani, 40km west of Mackay, on Sunday based on ‘antiquated readings’.
The weather bureau issued a major flood warning for the Pioneer River at 2pm on Sunday, but data from Mirani township showed the river didn’t even reach the moderate flood level stage.
Williamson, who has been the mayor of Mackay for 10 years, told Daily Mail that the BoM was in danger of losing the public’s trust.
‘We know what the rivers are doing, it’s not going to be a major flood level at Mirani at any stage and so that’s what we’re fighting against here – we’re fighting against a lack of investment in the technology,’ he said.
‘It puts me in a difficult situation because if we come out and say the BoM is wrong, then it builds a distrust in people that rely on the BoM for forecasts,’ he said.
‘For God’s sake, fix it. They can spend millions and millions on a new website but we’re dealing with an antiquated system which affects people’s lives on a regular basis, every season.
‘We should have the best equipment in the world on the ground in regional Queensland when you consider all the natural disasters we have.’
Some of the Bureau of Meteorology’s rain gauges in Queensland are producing inaccurate readings and causing the wrong alerts to be sent out
Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson (picture) slammed BoM over ‘antiquated readings’
Some farmers say they can’t simply look at the weather on the BOM for fear it’s inaccurate
The criticism comes as large parts of Queensland’s outback region start to recover after weeks of rain caused by ex-Tropical Cyclone Koji.
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli said he ‘wouldn’t accept’ rain gauge inaccuracies and called for more investment in the life-saving technology.
‘You can’t have communities that don’t have adequate rain gauges and you can’t have big portions of the state that isn’t covered by radar,’ he said.
‘You wouldn’t accept it anywhere else… you wouldn’t accept people being exposed and not having information if it was in a populated area in Sydney or Melbourne, so I don’t accept it for western Queensland.’
Crisafulli also disputed the BOM’s claim that his government had been briefed in November about its rain gauges.
A BOM spokesman said: ‘Projects are already under way to increase automation of gauges in these areas, and further details on these initiatives will be shared in the coming weeks.’
Queensland’s farmers have also hit out against the BoM, claiming that many rain gauges failed during major floods in the state over the New Year period, resulting in the deaths of 50,000 cattle.
Grazier Ashley Gallagher told the ABC that some of his animals were still stranded on a small island cut off by the inland floods.
It’s been claimed that around 50,000 cattle have been lost in the recent Queensland floods
Queensland premier David Crisafulli has demanded more investment in his state’s rain gauges
He said crocodiles were waiting for the cattle to move into the water, making it impossible to rescue the animals.
He claimed that four flood gauges upstream of his Sawtell Station did not work on the Norman River catchment.
‘You don’t know what’s coming so you’re back to the old days I guess of ringing around stations to find out what’s happening up the river instead of taking five minutes to look on the [Bureau of Meteorology] page and see what’s going on,’ he said.
‘Working river gauges, they’re a lifesaver. They’re saving the cattle’s lives anyway, and sometimes, a human’s life when they’re working.’
The BoM admitted two automatic gauges in the Flinders River catchment were not working during ex-Tropical Cyclone Koji.
The bureau has been contacted for further comment.
