Residents in Mount Isa have emptied the shelves of major supermarkets even after stock had been replenished just two hours before while smaller vendors are also reporting heavy consumer traffic.
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The panic buying comes as further rain falls across the region leading to road closures and concerns of food shortage.
Woolworths and Coles have been in logistic co-ordination meetings this morning with a number of stores across Northern Queensland.
A Woolworths spokesperson said they plan for this all year round and have contingency plans in place.
“Woolworths has emergency relief plans and procedures in place to ensure that we are delivering key essentials when it's needed most.”
Mount Isa Mayor Joyce McCulloch said panic buying happens every year when the wet comes in.
“It’s always good to be prepared but consumers need to be mindful of others, but also another thing to keep in mind is the effect the rainy season has on our electricity.
Over buying products could lead to disaster if we have an outage that ends up being quite lengthy,” Cr McCulloch said.
“The thing is these big multi-national companies and our local business are organised around times like this.”
Some of the local supermarkets seem to be prepared when it counts.
Colonial Convenience Store owner Bob Burow said after living here for 12 years, he could see it coming.
“We’re actually quite full here with essential groceries at the moment,” Mr Burow said.
Mr Burow said small business stockists of perishables like milk and bread forecasted their stock orders.
“You can’t over order on bread and milk due to use by dates, however we have stocked up on the Sunshine milks and the powdered milks as well,” he said.
Brumby’s Bakery owners Michelle and Darryl Russell said by 9.30am Friday they had sold out of bread.
“We sold a whole days worth of bread within four hours,” Mrs Russell said.
She said the line up was out the door and in the street.
The couple assured the North West Star that the town would not run out of bread.
“We have about three tonne of flour, enough to last more than three weeks here, so we have limited customers to two loaves of bread each a day.”
“The Mount Isa region experiences this situation nearly every year, we need to view it as positive news that we are seeing the rain,” she said.
Last year Woolworths air freighted 15 tonnes of fresh fruit, vegetables and meat along with baby formula to help residents in Mount Isa during the wet season.
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Some petrol stations around the locality are warning of diesel shortages.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology Mount Isa can expect more rain and heavy showers right through until Thursday next week.
A major flood warning is current for the Flinders and Cloncurry Rivers.
Several key roads across the region remain closed. See the latest traffic situation here.
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