Most shelves at one Woolies store in Cairns remain bare.

A critical bridge on the Bruce Highway collapsed during the flooding last week and resulted in extreme delays in much-needed supplies of food, water and fuel to areas north of Townsville.

The Bruce Highway officially reopened across the Seymour River north of Ingham on Friday.

Melbourne influencer and food blogger Bianca, who also lives in Cairns for part of the year, shared footage of her local Woolworths store.

Fridges, freezers and shelves at the Cairns supermarket had been stripped bare as it desperately awaits resupply from a main distribution centre. 

“The shocking amount of rain that hit FNQ, causing flooding from Townsville to Cairns, didn’t really hit us,” Bianca said.

“However, because of road closures we are shut off from a lot of supplies as we are north of the affected areas… it’s crazy and worse than Covid, if that was possible.”

There are temporary limits in place for two per transaction for toilet paper, rice, bread, noodles, deli products and poultry at Woolworths stores north of Mackay.

In a statement shared with 9news.com.au, Coles Regional Manager Brad Stewart said the supermarket giant was working on resupply but it could take longer than anticipated.

“Our team here in Far North Queensland and across the eastern seaboard is doing everything possible to ensure our customers can access the groceries they need in our region, however it will take some time before the shelves are restocked with everyone’s favourite items,” Stewart said.

“Since Friday we’ve managed to transport more than 1300 pallets of food and groceries, that’s on average more than 110 per store, including fresh produce, meat, dairy, bread and grocery essentials like toilet paper, water, soft drinks, snacks, pasta, rice and cereals.

“We want to thank our customers for their patience and our team for being there for the community during this very challenging time.”

A Woolworths spokesperson said its “number one priority” is getting much-needed groceries to impacted areas in Queensland.

“Whether that’s meant having trucks poised at the edge of floodwaters to cross the moment they recede, or airlifting stock into communities,” the spokesperson said.

“We thank our teams in Far North communities who have now been working for over a week to keep the doors open for our customers in particularly challenging circumstances.

“The Far North spirit has really been on show through our customers’ support for our teams, and we would like to thank them for their patience and understanding as we’ve worked to replenish shelves with any stock available.

“We ask our customers to continue to be mindful of others and only buy what they need.”