North West Qld councils call out critical flood warning shortfalls as communities brace for more rain

The North West Queensland Regional Organisation of Councils (NWQROC) has called out the inadequacy and unreliability of flood warning data that continues to risk lives and livelihoods, as flooding continues and communities prepare for further severe weather.

NWQROC Chair and Etheridge Shire Mayor Barry Hughes said councils in the Gulf and North West are once again being forced to respond to major rainfall and elevated river levels without access to the reliable, real-time information required to respond safely and effectively.

“This will not be the only weather event this season, and yet many of the same issues identified after the 2019 floods that swept across North West Queensland remain unresolved,” Cr Hughes said.

“Five years on and with more major flooding events since then, there are still huge gaps in rainfall and river monitoring across a vast and highly flood-prone part of the country.

“There’s been a bit of talk, but very little action on the ground. That is simply not good enough.

Cr Hughes said the continued failure to deliver and maintain functional, coordinated flood monitoring infrastructure was placing councils, responders, communities and livestock at risk.

“We are repeatedly being asked to manage disasters without access to the basic information we need to get it right. When river gauges and monitoring equipment are offline, unreliable or simply not there, communities are left making critical decisions in the dark.”

“These are not new issues, and they are not isolated to one shire or one event,” he said.

“We need action now and not wait for the same failures to repeat every wet season.”

“We are inviting the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) and relevant agencies to come to the North West and address us as a matter of urgency and to clearly outline how these deficiencies will be rectified,” he said.

“Our region contributes enormously to Queensland and Australia. We need real action to ensure our communities are safe, our responders are protected, and our producers can continue providing for the nation into the future.”

McKinlay Shire Mayor Janene Fegan said the situation on the ground was further complicated by fragmented ownership and operation of the region’s current flood warning infrastructure.

“Across North West Queensland, flood warning infrastructure is owned and maintained by a number of different agencies,” Mayor Fegan said.

“At present, a number of that infrastructure is offline, which makes it extremely difficult to plan and coordinate response activities when rainfall continues, and river levels rise.”

“Real-time information is critical during flood events to support our responses. Yet councils are not always able to access real time information held by agencies – including live camera feeds, which significantly hinders response activities,” she said.

“When information is fragmented or unavailable, it directly affects how councils can protect communities, roads and essential services.”

Mayor Fegan said there was a clear need for leadership and coordination to ensure flood monitoring systems are fit for purpose.

“What we need is for the BOM to take a leadership role in centralising flood warning infrastructure,” she said.

“That means making sure systems are appropriate for disaster response and, just as importantly, that they are operational and tested before the disaster season begins - not while communities are under threat.”

“Whilst the Federal Government made a $236 million rain gauge program commitment in 2023 for the BOM to do this, we are yet to see the outcomes on ground.”

Burke Shire Mayor Ernie Camp said that this issue is not new for his community, which also experienced major flooding in 2023 and 2024, following the devastating events of 2019.

“Burke Shire knows the consequences of these gaps all too well,” Cr Camp said.

“The floods we faced in 2023 reinforced that without reliable forecasting and monitoring systems, communities are left exposed.”

Mayor Camp said mayors across the region have consistently worked together to advocate for improvement and recognition of the realities facing Gulf communities.

“The councils of the region continue to unite and head down south to seek commitment for more to be done to minimise the impacts of natural disasters going forward. Yet, here we are again,” he said.

“The Leichhardt River was in a major flood downstream, yet for days there were no major flood warnings or colour-coding on a map to reflect this,” Cr Camp said.

“It was not until I raised this matter directly with the BOM that it was rectified and a well-overdue warning for both the Leichhardt and Nicholson River catchments was declared on their website.

“People still carry the memory of recent catastrophic flood events, and when rain starts falling, that concern returns,” he said.

“Regular, reliable information helps people make better preparations and support evidence-based decisions during events - that makes a real difference on the ground, not only during an event, but throughout recovery as well.”