‘Nightmare’: Woolies bans ‘selfish’ act
One item has been extremely hard to find for Aussies about to be hit by Cyclone Alfred, forcing supermarkets enforce a buying cap.
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One everyday item has become increasingly hard to find for Aussies as they brace for Tropical Cyclone Alfred, forcing supermarkets to put a limit on purchases.
South East Queenslanders have been stocking up on essential items for days as the Bureau of Meteorology warns that Cyclone Alfred could hit land as a category three system.
The BoM’s technical bulletin suggests the system could intensify before crossing the coast potentially in Brisbane’s south about 1am on Friday, with wind gusts of up to 150km/h expected.
The cyclone could bring more than half a metre of rain in some places. As an indicator of the magnitude of the storm, there is also now a weather warning in place for almost 1000km of the coast.
Supermarket shelves have been pillaged as people in the state do their best to prepare for what is yet to come. One item that has been a struggle for shoppers to get their hands on is bottled water.
Popular food content creator Foodie Mumma Ren shared an image of a customer notice at Woolworths, putting a limit of two packets of bulk water per transaction. Similar restrictions have now been implemented at Coles.
The shelf had been stripped bare.
Renita praised the supermarkets for implementing the restrictions.
“People are being selfish and silly with it. There were only four packs left in our store this afternoon,” she said.
“I’ve heard today that three pallet loads of water was gone in FIVE MINUTES. People were acting like animals! Pushing, shoving and grabbing what they could!
“Be patient, be kind and help an elderly customer out. Well done to all of the workers in the stores who are dealing with the panic buying.”
news.com.au understands that Woolworths’ Brisbane Regional will get an additional 1400 pallets of stock on March 5. This includes large amounts of bulk water.
“Stores across the Sunshine Coast, southeast Queensland and northern rivers regions of NSW are continuing to receive stock, and all stores remain open,” a Woolworths spokesperson told news.com.au on Tuesday.
“We’re increasing the amount of key products such as pasta, rice, soup, nappies, baby food and formula, milk, and frozen vegetables being sent to stores.
“Additional supplies of water, bread and other pantry essentials are also being delivered to our Brisbane Regional Distribution Centre, which will then be sent to stores across the regions.”
The supermarket said it would continue to work with authorities, and thanked the state government for lifting transport curfews as it’s allowed for stock replenishment. The spokesperson also thanked customers for showing “kindness and patience to our store team members”.
A Coles spokesperson confirmed to news.com.au that extra deliveries were already on the road, including meat, milk, bread, water, canned goods, baby formula and toilet paper. Extra staff are also working in stores, and the Redbank Automated Distribution Centre is “easily” handling the demand.
Social media users were stunned at what they were seeing, with some comparing it to the panic buying trend that began in 2020.
“If you have empty bottles refill them from your taps while you can,” one said.
Another said: “Oh my goodness flash backs of Covid and the bloody toilet paper saga what a nightmare.”
“At the end of the day every person in Brisbane needs water supply for a cyclone, stocks are going to be depleted fast,” one added.
One commented: “This is terrible. It leaves people without. Very selfish behaviour. Stay safe everyone.”
Popular content creator Oh So Busy Mum took to Facebook to share her hack if you couldn’t get your hands on bottled water.
“QLD folks! If you can’t get your hands on water or want freezer blocks/ice, you can use zip lock bags️,” she said.
“Just fill them with water and pop in the freezer or fridge. I prefer the sandwich bag size as they fit easily in my freezer and hold 1L.
“Much easier to store over filling up containers.”
Originally published as ‘Nightmare’: Woolies bans ‘selfish’ act
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