Federal politicians have demanded an immediate review of the Bureau of Meteorology’s revamped website after residents reported feeling unprepared during recent storms.
Nationals Leader David Littleproud questioned the need for the new site on Wednesday, saying the troubled rollout lacked common sense.
The $4.1 million site redesign sparked complaints after its October 22 launch, with users saying it was hard to use and failed to show storm severity following wild weather that hit Queensland and Victoria at the weekend.
Mr Littleproud took a swipe at the bureau while addressing reporters at Parliament on Wednesday, criticising its poor forecasts and suggesting management needed to improve.
“They can’t even manage to put a simple website together,” he added.
The new website features design and functionality improvements to the most used pages, including forecasts, observations and weather warnings.
A bureau spokesperson defended the website’s rollout on Wednesday, but acknowledged there had been challenges with the change.
The spokesperson told AAP forecasts and warnings were not affected during the October 22 rollout and remained available throughout the day, as savage storms left a trail of destruction across the eastern seaboard.
“(We) assure the community that the new site has been designed with public safety at its core ,” they said.
The radar functionality is one of the tools that prompted feedback from users, the spokesperson said.
“This is just the beginning of our journey to improve our online services,” they said.
“We will continue to deliver website improvements based on feedback which we are taking seriously, just as we have done throughout the development phase.”
However, users have reported several issues, including the removal of the option to enter GPS coordinates for specific properties, limiting searches to towns or postcodes.
“As a result, families, businesses and farmers are unable to access vital, localised data such as river heights and rainfall information,” Mr Littleproud said.
Queensland farmer Paul White says the new website was “hopeless”.
“My main problem is that I have 6500 acres that go under flood waters and we have a gauging station that is 10 kilometres upstream from us,” Mr White said.
“When we have heavy rain I monitor that 24/7 because I have livestock and machinery. But now, I don’t see any meter heights anymore.”
Federal environment minister Murray Watt has since met with the bureau, saying the site was not meeting many users’ expectations.
He confirmed the bureau was considering the feedback and what adjustments could be made.
“The BOM website is a critical tool to ensure public safety, particularly during the High Risk Weather Season and it must deliver the quality information our hardworking BOM staff are known for,” Mr Watt said in a statement on Tuesday.
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