QLD supermarkets stripped bare amid extreme floods – except for one item
Some Aussies have been left scrambling for fresh produce, with supermarket aisles all but stripped bare – except for one item.
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Heavy rain and extreme flooding has left Queensland supermarkets without stock.
But wild footage has shown that while Coles and Woolworths shelves have been stripped completely bare – there’s one item shoppers don’t appear to be keen on, even during a food shortage.
One clip, shared by TikTok user @asian.barbiee, shows a Coles store in flood-ravaged Cairns that appears to have nothing for sale except for bunches and bunches of bananas.
“Why is this the only thing left in the supermarket?” the video asked as it panned the fresh produce section, showing nothing but endless boxes of (very green) bananas.
“Planet of the apes over here.”
In another TikTok video, user @womeninbuilding shared a similar situation at her local Coles.
“I can’t stop laughing,” she explained in the clip.
“We have bananas. Bananas, bananas, bananas. Bananas for breakfast, lunch and dinner.”
The Cairns resident posted a follow-up video declaring it was like the “2025 hunger games”, adding that she struggled to find basic produce such as bread and meat in major retailers.
Extreme weather has devastated large parts of the region, impacting vital transport routes in and out of Queensland and leaving fresh produce aisles empty.
The worst-affected areas include Townsville, Ingham, and Cardwell, where evacuation orders have been issued.
Residents in the state’s far north have been urged to avoid bulk-buying at supermarkets, with concerns that panic shopping could lead to further shortages of essential items.
Coles said the situation in Cairns is “rapidly evolving”, adding since the videos were posted to social media, the supermarket giant has “managed to get hundreds of pallets delivered into our stores by air, road and sea”.
“Coles has had pallets of food and essentials flown in on emergency flights organised by the Queensland Government. And yesterday we had approximately 200 pallets of stock arrive by barge in Cairns including meat, fresh produce and groceries,” Coles Queensland Regional Manager, Brad Stewart told news.com.au.
“For the majority of Australians outside of Queensland, there are going to be fewer bananas available – as we can’t get the bananas out of flood affected areas. This means that for Queensland, there will be oversupply – with more bananas than there is demand for.”
Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) general manager Matt Collopy warned the rainfall is set to continue intensifying, with some areas breaking their monthly rainfall records in the past 10 days.
“The rainfall is really being driven in the higher context by a low embedded within the monsoon trough” he told the Courier Mail.
“Rainfall totals in 24 hours associated with this low are expected to reach 100 to 250 millimetres in 24 hours, with possible falls up to 300 millimetres through to Tuesday.
“Warnings for both the flooding, as well as that severe weather warning are likely to change quickly and evolve over the next couple of days.”
BOM issued severe weather warnings for Herbert, Lower Burdekin, Peninsula, Gulf Country, North Tropical Coast and Tablelands, Northern Goldfields and Upper Flinders Forecast Districts on Tuesday morning, with floods set to become the worst on record in the past century.
Monsoonal rains had hit Queensland from Cairns to south of Mackay last week, with hundreds being evacuated and two fatalities.
Helicopters have had to be employed to reach the heavily impacted communities between Townsville and Cairns to provide food.
North Queensland alone accounts for more than 90 per cent of Australia’s banana production. But the supply may be trapped for the foreseeable future.
Australian Banana Growers Council chair Leon Collins, a banana grower who farms at Tully and Lakeland said his community is working hard to persevere through these difficult times.
“There’s a reason the word ‘resilient’ is thrown around a lot when talking about farming – it is certainly not for the faint hearted,” he told news.com.au.
“Growers do what they do because they love the challenge of producing a high-quality, nutritious product for Australian consumers.
“At times, it’s more challenging than others and this is certainly one of those periods for growers in the north, who are striving to get produce to shelves while supporting their teams and their families.”
Mr Collins said “the state of these major freight routes is not new” and called for a “more sustainable, long term fix”.
He anticipates that shelves will return to normal stock levels by end of next week.
Social media has had fun with the dire situation, with some jokingly describing it as the “2025 Hungergames”.
In one video, a shopper described feeling like she had “won the Lotto” after finding bread in a supermarket.
“I’ve had to go to four shops today. Never in my life did I think I’d have to travel from suburb to suburb to get some food,” she said.
The TikTok user added that she was able to locate some meat from the local butcher, “but at Coles and Woolies there was nothing”.
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