Stories in all Australian media about "panic buying" across supermarkets, along with reader comments about how they went down to grab a few last minute essentials but has been beaten to them by "panic buyers" (upon reading which my head exploded).


Rocklea markets : Brisbane's main wholesale produce markets where grocers source their produce is under several metres of water, so fresh produce is going to be thin on the ground for a while. They're organising alternative sites but with many roads cut off distribution is going to be a problem.

Lockyer Valley : Brisbane's salad bowl more or less. Much of Brisbane's vegetables are grown out here and it has been utterly devestated by the flooding. Rail and road are out all over the place. Australian Army still conducting SAR for survivors (and recovery of victims).


Panic Buying Strips Shops
"PANICKED shoppers stripped supermarkets of basic supplies in Brisbane yesterday, preparing for a flood siege that could last a week. Shelves were denuded of drinking water, canned goods and batteries yesterday as residents raced against the rising inland tide to stock up on food and emergency supplies."

Major supermarkets shut down
"Major supermarkets in Brisbane and Ipswich are shutting their doors due to staff, power and stock shortages as "panic buyers" empty the shelves."

Food stocks low in Brisbane
"Woolworths, one of Australia’s largest supermarket chains, has closed 13 stores in Queensland and on Thursday said it was “increasingly concerned about stock levels in Queensland stores given the extent of road closures, supply issues and staff shortages”.

Now these are the conditions in Brisbane, the state capital with a population of 2.5million in the Greater Brisbane area. If one moves further afield the conditions are worse, with some small towns being without safe water for several days now and essentially out of food (Australian army in the process of providing emergency assistance).

Australians in general, and particularly those in the capital cities really don't have a preparedness mentality. Many people have no more than a few days food on hand, and little or nothing in the way of non-perishable food. The Queensland government has tried a 'softly softly' approach of advising people to construct emergency kits for the Brisbane summer "storm season", but as we have been in drought for the last decade it really isn't taken seriously. In cyclone prone areas in the far north of the state, people have a more considered outlook, as a result of devastating cyclones in the past.