Rain Gauges as an information tool for flood warnings – what are the expectation?
Various media reports by Flood CoP colleagues in January
Another big wet season in the extensive Gulf of Carpentaria catchments
Vast parts of the Queensland outback, from inland of the Gulf of Carpentaria down to Winton are recovering after weeks of rain in late December and ongoing throughout January which turned vast landscapes into inland oceans.
At the height of the event, expectations by some local graziers and various Mayors for up-to-date rainfall fell short and there has a range of concerns and complaints raised.
Various media outlets have run with this story and in the process members from the Flood Community of Practice of network were interviewed, namely:
Unique opportunity to share experiences and expertise from our network
Being approached by the media, can feel like a daunting task, plus many colleagues in various government and other large organisation are not able to readily participate and make public comments.
In our Flood CoP network role, being an “independent think tank” of experience and knowledge on flood resilience we do have individuals and means by which to provide some fact and experience based comment.
In the TV interview that I did below, I spent over 4 hours in advance contacting various industry specialist and colleagues embedded in Government organisation who were happy to brief me on the various issues and response options. As an informed “story teller” and with support from the Griffith University media team, I was able to provide a substantial mix of information. And from a 20 minute discussion -there is often only a few grabs that go to air and are used!!
So if you have a topic or issue that the media would like to discuss with you and you are not available to respond, we are happy here at the Flood CoP to assist. So please don’t hesitate to be in touch
Below, in this 730 report TV interview with Piet Filet and others that went to air on Monday 12 January, the story gives a grim picture of the impact that cattle producers can be faced with if stock are not able to be moved away from vulnerable parts of their property in advance of hazardous flood flows.
In response to the North Queensland concerns, a snippet of Piet’s response is provided from the 5:20 minute mark. Working with reporter Laura Lavelle, producer Tom Hartley and the experienced film and sound specialists from the 730 report was a pleasure.
Following on from this TV story a parallel OnLine article was also published, where a few additional quotes from Piet were included. Read the article here
Follow up interview with Ben Caddis
The topic of rain gauge function was further analyzed by ABC journalists. They found as of January 21 2026, 168 of the 1,322 automatic gauges on Queensland rivers are offline.
To understand the challenge further Ben provided a practioner and installer feedback in an online interview . Check out the graphic, in the article, on “Faulty gauge distribution by river system graphic” – interesting analysis.
The interviews from Will Prentice are yet to go to air – but we will add them once published.