Supermarket shelves stripped bare amid flood chaos
Aussies in NSW have been left scrambling to secure groceries, with supermarket aisles stripped bare and stores closed amid the floods.
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Supermarket shelves in NSW Mid North Coast and Hunter regions have been stripped bare, as fresh produce delivery trucks are unable to enter flood affected areas. Nearly 50,000 people have been cut off amid major flooding that has now claimed four lives, and severe weather is expected to continue to affect the eastern parts of NSW throughout Friday.
In Taree, the Manning River has risen to unprecedented levels and the town has experienced a third of its annual average rainfall in the last two days.
As flooding continues, one local took to TikTok to document the eerie scenes in her local Coles – where access has been cut off due to power outages and the closure of the Pacific Highway in both directions.
In the video, she showed the inside of Taree Coles, which has an entirely empty meat fridge, a very limited selection of fruits and vegetables, and a deserted deli.
A significant portion of the supermarket, including the meat and deli areas, was cordoned off by bollards.
“Before we really had a chance to stock up, we were flooded in,” Ms Rawson told news.com.au.
“No trucks can get in or out, so there’s no food coming in”.
The situation was made worse when the store apparently had a power outage on Wednesday night, forcing staff to discard perishable items.
A Coles spokesperson told news.com.au: “We are keeping a close eye on the evolving situation in New South Wales, and most of our stores remain open for our communities.
“Our Wingham and Kempsey stores have had to unfortunately close at this stage, and we will reopen these as soon as it is safe to do so.
“Our teams are working hard to ensure we have extra food deliveries on their way to our stores, and have deliveries ready to get into isolated areas as soon as flooded roads reopen, so our communities can be rest assured that we will continue to serve them and we are working to deliveries into stores so we can restock our shelves.”
She says the impact of the floods has been devastating, as many have been left without essential supplies.
“The evacuation centre is full and we’ve had friends lose everything. It’s heartbreaking,” she said.
Despite the devastation, she described how the crisis has brought the community closer together.
“Everyone has been banding together,” she shared.
“Because work and school is all off, there’s a lot of people checking out the damage between the rain, so it’s definitely bringing us all together”.
The community spirit is also palpable online, not just on the ground.
In the comments section of Ms Rawson’s video, locals have been quick to share tips and support, pointing each other towards any available supplies.
One commenter wrote: “The butcher on Kanangra Drive has some meat and the fruit and veg shop next to the butcher has fruit and veg. Hope this helps”.
In local community Facebook groups, people have also been helping out their neighbours, offering to drop them off homemade meals or any extra food they have.
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