'Worse than during COVID': Locals shocked as supermarket shelves remain empty

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There are still bare supermarket shelves two weeks after a flooded road blocked off the area.

In certain regions, including Cairns.

Most shelves at one Woolworths store in Cairns remain empty.

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A vital bridge on the Bruce Highway was knocked out by the flooding last week, causing severe hold-ups in getting vital supplies of food, water and fuel to places north of Townsville.

The Bruce Highway has officially reopened across the Seymour River, north of Ingham, as of Friday.

Melbourne influencer and food blogger Bianca, who also spends part of the year in Cairns, shared footage of her local Woolworths supermarket.

The fridges, freezers and shelves at the Cairns supermarket have been stripped bare, waiting desperately for a new shipment to arrive from the main distribution centre.

"The amount of rain that dumped on FNQ, causing flooding from Townsville to Cairns, didn't really affect us," Bianca said.

However, because of road closures we're cut off from a heap of supplies, being north of the affected areas... it's mental and worse than the Covid lockdowns, if that's even possible.

There are temporary restrictions in place for two per transaction for toilet paper, rice, bread, noodles, deli items and chicken at Woolworths stores north of Mackay.

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"Our team in Far North Queensland and along the eastern seaboard is working hard to make sure our customers can get the groceries they need in our area, but it'll be a little while before our shelves are fully stocked with everyone's favourite products," Stewart said.

Since Friday, we've shifted over 1300 pallets of tucker and groceries, that's an average of more than 110 pallets per store, including fresh produce, meat, dairy, bread and the essentials like toilet paper, water, softies, snacks, pasta, rice and cereals.

We're grateful to our customers for their understanding and our team for supporting the community through this tough period.

A Woolworths spokesperson said its "number one priority" is getting much-needed groceries to affected areas in Queensland.

"We're looking at options like having trucks ready to roll into the affected areas once the water drops, or using helicopters to fly in supplies to communities in need," the spokesperson said.

We acknowledge and appreciate the efforts of our teams in Far North communities who've been working tirelessly for over a week to keep our stores open for our customers under very difficult conditions.

The Far North spirit has really been on display through our customers' backing for our teams, and we'd like to acknowledge their patience and understanding as we've worked to restock our shelves with whatever stock we have available.

We kindly ask our customers to consider the needs of others when making a purchase and only buy what is necessary.

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