Lower South Island residents will encounter some empty supermarket shelves, as authorities work to reopen delivery routes overwhelmed by record rainfall. Fortunately, the rare ‘red warning’ issued by the MetService for Canterbury’s extreme weather was lifted last night.
The NZ Transport Agency said State Highway 1 closures south of Christchurch through Dunsandel, and at Hinds, south of Ashburton, could both be cleared by this afternoon. Still, shoppers at Foodstuffs stores could see some empty shelves south of Ashburton today, head of corporate affairs Antoinette Laird said, as the company faced ‘delivery challenges’ to southern stores due to the road closures in the region.
“Customers might see some gaps on shelves until our trucks can get through to make deliveries,” Ms Laird told odt.co.nz: “Foodstuffs South Island is well used to dealing with extreme weather events, so we ask all customers to please shop normally to avoid putting unnecessary stress on stores.”
A Countdown spokeswoman said the company was facing similar issues as lower South Island deliveries had been affected by flooding. Some shelves in the fruit and vegetable section at the Central Dunedin Countdown were empty due to the delivery delays.
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