Today I have written to both the Bureau of Meteorology CEO and the Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley to advise that it’s simply not good enough for the people of Townsville to be without a weather radar for three days, just when a cyclone is brewing off the coast.

I raised these very concerns in 2016-17 when we were advised that the BOM was going to relocate staff at weather stations up and down the coast to Brisbane and Cairns.

I was assured that responses to breakdowns would be quick, but we’ve now seen that is not the case.

As a cyclone bears down on the North, Townsville is now out and has been for three days and will be for a while longer. 

While BOM says they don’t rely on this radar info for cyclone tracking, local residents do look to the local radar for an accurate and detailed local picture of what is happening in their community.

I believe BOM technicians should preferably be based out of all regional centres in cyclone areas, with the necessary gear to fix radar issues. But at the very least, technicians and their required gear should be based in Townsville where it’s a short flight to other regional cities.

If the BOM can’t do it, they should contract out equipment storage and technical services to others who can get the word done ASAP.

We cannot have radars out during cyclone seasons. The community is in uproar over this in both Mackay and Townsville and rightly so.