Buying a bunch of bananas may be a splurge in the coming weeks

Aussie kids may notice a key lunch box change this week, with a national banana shortage expected after north Queensland floods cut supply routes out of the state.

Southern states including New South Wales and Victoria rely on north Queensland for supplies of the fresh, affordable family favourite. The Sunshine State supplies over 90 per cent of the country’s bananas.

But monsoonal* rains have flooded areas from Cairns* to south of Mackay*, causing multiple road closures along vital transport routes including the Bruce Highway.

HOW ARE SUPERMARKETS RESPONDING?
Supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths are both working to manage the supply shortage, but different regions are expected to be affected at different times this week.

“Due to the floods in Far North Queensland, key delivery routes for bananas have been impacted,” Woolworths said in a statement.

“For a short time, customers may notice less bananas nationally on the shelf. We are working hard to return supply to normal as soon as possible.”

Coles said it was too early to gauge* the full impact on supply, as alternate transport routes could still be impacted by floodwaters: “We are working closely with our Queensland banana suppliers to get bananas to the rest of the country as supply routes begin to reopen,” Coles said.

“We have managed to get some bananas out already, and are continuing to work hard to find available routes for more banana deliveries.”

WILL BANANA PRICES RISE?
With supply disrupted, the cost of bananas is expected to spike, as happened in 2011 when Cyclone Yasi’s* devastation caused bananas to reach a high of $14 a kilo.

The Bureau of Meteorology* has warned north Queensland residents to prepare for more heavy rainfall in the coming days, with the rain band expected to push even further inland. Trucks currently relying on alternative routes may find additional roads closures will put previously safe transportation options at risk.

Local reports have also suggested that some farmers have been forced to cull* crops affected by the floods.

WHAT IS THE LATEST ON THE QLD FLOODS?
A second deluge* is forecast in the far north on Monday and Tuesday, with major flood warnings for half a dozen rivers, as the QLD government asked people to buy only what they needed.

The flood crisis moved to the state’s west and The Gulf of Carpentaria* on Sunday, with record or near-record rains in towns such as Halifax, north of Ingham, which was hit with 270mm.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s Matt Collopy said the monsoonal trough causing the near-unprecedented* conditions would begin to move east from Monday, bringing more heavy rain to the coast, from Townsville to Ingham.

It would then move offshore by about Thursday, with a low chance of forming into a cyclone, which was expected to keep moving east if it did form.

More than 300 roads across the state have now been closed.

More than 2700 households have lost power due to the floods.

There have been 177 requests for SES help in the past 24 hours to Monday morning, including for washouts and flood damage assistance, and more than 2100 SES call-outs in total since the deluge began.

POLL

GLOSSARY

• monsoonal: related to a seasonal wind that brings widespread, persistent rainfall across a large region
• Cairns: port city on the east coast of Far North Queensland
• Mackay: city on the Coral Sea coast of Queensland, located 1004km south of Cairns via the Bruce Highway
• gauge: to estimate or make a judgement about something, like how much water is in a jug
• Cyclone Yasi: after developing as a tropical low northwest of Fiji, Yasi became the first category 5 cyclone to hit the coast of Queensland since 1918, crossing the coast at Mission Beach near Cairns on February 2, 2011, causing widespread damage
• meteorology: the scientific study of the atmosphere, atmospheric phenomena and their effect on the weather
• cull: reduce or control the amount of something by removing weaker, damaged or surplus stock
• deluge: a great flood of water, torrential rain or an overwhelming amount of something
• Gulf of Carpentaria: a shallow inlet of the Arafura Sea, between Arnhem Land and the Cape York Peninsula

EXTRA READING

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QUICK QUIZ

1. What percentage of Australia’s banana supply comes from QLD?
2. How has the monsoonal rain
3. Why did the prices of bananas go up in 2011?
4. What was the per kilo price reached during that spike?
5. How many roads have been closed in QLD due to the floods in the far north?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Floods flow chart
With these unprecedented monsoonal floods causing havoc for those affected in Far North Queensland, what are the flow-on effects mentioned in the article?

Weather events such as these don’t only cause damage to those living in the area, the effects flow onto residents around the country in different ways.

Complete a flow chart detailing how the floods affect other people and industries in Australia:

Time: allow 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Science, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

2. Extension
Who are the people and organisations we rely on in disaster events such as the floods in Queensland?

Work with a classmate to gather a list of organisations and what they do to help residents affected by the floods and other disasters.

Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Civics and Citizenship, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

VCOP ACTIVITY
Read this!
A headline on an article – or a title on your text – should capture the attention of the audience, telling them to read this now. So choosing the perfect words for a headline or title is very important.

Create three new headlines for the events that took place in this article. Remember, what you write and how you write it will set the pace for the whole text, so make sure it matches.

Read out your headlines to a partner and discuss what the article will be about based on the headline you created. Discuss the tone and mood you set in just your few, short words. Does it do the article justice? Will it capture the audience’s attention the way you hoped? Would you want to read more?

Consider how a headline or title is similar to using short, sharp sentences throughout your text. They can be just as important as complex ones. Go through the last text you wrote and highlight any short, sharp sentences that capture the audience.