Flood cameras in the north west Queensland town of Richmond have been switched off and are not expected to come back online until after the 2022-2023 wet season.
The camera feeds were shut down after the company that operates them, DIT AgTech, identified problems with its flood monitoring software, citing legacy issues.
Richmond Shire Council issued a statement saying all eight of its cameras would "cease to operate", effective November 30.
The council claimed, however, that they were not notified until November 29, one day before the cameras were turned off. Despite this, DIT AgTech have maintained that its customers were notified twice in the six months before the shut down.
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Richmond Shire chief executive Peter Bennett said residents were able to access the camera feeds online and get up to date photos of the crossings.
He said without the cameras, council staff would have to "manually check these crossings after heavy rain events".
"This equates to several hundred kilometres of driving a day," Mr Bennett said.
"Council rely on these cameras to keep the public informed of road closures and flooding."
DIT AgTech chief executive Mark Peart said the flood monitoring software, which they bought in 2018, turned out to be "unfit for purpose".
He said a tech team identified "a change coming" to its servers that would make the software "incompatible".
"All customers were given six months notice informally, and then a formal notice three months before we ceased services," Mr Peart said.
"We offered all customers a full refund for data services paid for in advance, and even connected our customers with competitors who could help them transition to new services."
Mr Bennett said he only learnt of the shutdown after phoning the company to add credit to council's account on November 29.
"They claimed to have sent an email about the closure on September 30, 2022, but council didn't receive it," he said.
The eight cameras won't be replaced until after the 2022-23 wet season. Richmond Shire Council are expected to discuss how to replace the cameras at a council meeting on December 13.
