Coles charter plane to bring fresh produce, groceries to Cairns, Townsville
UPDATE: A supermarket charter plane will land in Cairns this afternoon, bringing fresh produce, groceries and flour to the region.
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UPDATE 12PM: A Coles charter plane will land in Cairns this afternoon, bringing fresh produce, groceries and flour to the region.
A Coles spokeswoman said once the plane landed, half the load would be trucked to Townsville on “recently reopened roads”.
“We are also investigating alternative delivery routes with trucks from Adelaide and Darwin on the roads to deliver to other flood-impacted areas of Far North Queensland,” the spokeswoman said.
EARLIER: Far North will have to dig into its pantry stockpiles with flooded highways expected to cut-off the region’s freight routes for days to come.
Townsville has been stranded from the north and south, severing Cairns and other towns to the north from their chief supply routes.
Blenners Transport director Les Blennerhassett has hundreds of staff at a standstill.
“Everything’s parked up at the moment — we’re not moving anything,” he said.
“There’s nothing going south and nothing coming north as of Saturday.
“We’re servicing Rocky and Mackay out of Brisbane, but that’s as far north as we can.
“We need the government to look at raising some bridges and flood-free highways so we can actually get some fresh food into Cairns.”
Emergency Services Minister Craig Crawford believed the highway closures would play out for some time and were likely to affect food stock.
Rail lines have also washed out in several spots.
“The issue for Cairns is going to be supply,” he said.
“It’s probably going to take its toll by about Wednesday.
“Things just aren’t going to get through unless by air or barge.”
Sea Swift CEO Fred White said he would make ships available if the roads situation became too much to endure.
“It’s really down to the suppliers or customers whether they want to do it,” he said.
The isolation is already affecting fresh food supply but Olly’s Friendly Grocer Bella Vista manager Ian Lidman expected to weather the storm.
“We had deliveries due on Thursday, now they’re not expecting them until Wednesday — but who knows?” he said.
“Fortunately, we use a lot of local produce so we shouldn’t run low on fresh food.”
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Machans Beach Store and Post manager Mark Biney said the service station’s fuel reserves were expected to last.
“But give it a week and we’ll see what happens,” he said.
Woolworths had five delivery trucks en route to Cairns parked in Ingham waiting for tidal flooding to subside yesterday afternoon.
“Road situations have been challenging and we are looking at every avenue possible to get stock into our stores …” Woolworths Northern Queensland operations manager Tina Anandji said.
Originally published as Coles charter plane to bring fresh produce, groceries to Cairns, Townsville
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