Cyclone Niran wipes out banana crops in farnorth Queensland
Some banana crops have been wiped out as Cyclone Niran intensifies off the far-north Queensland coast.
Niran was expected to become a category three storm within 24 hours and while it was not expected to cross the coast, gale-force winds stripped banana trees, leaving farmers in despair.
Niran was on Wednesday a category two cyclone sitting 335km north-east of Cairns, packing sustained winds of 100km/h, gusting to 140km/h.
A warning for gale-force winds was current from Cape Melville, north of Cooktown, to Innisfail, south of Cairns.
About 4,000 people were without power in the Cairns region on Wednesday morning, down from about 42,000 on Monday afternoon when Niran – then just a low pressure system – pushed damaging winds ashore.
State Emergency Service teams were busy attending to damaged roofs and downed trees, and there were reports of minor structural damage to sheds and outbuildings in the Cairns area.
Banana farmers have suffered heavy losses, with some saying they’ve lost 100% of their crops.
The Australian Banana Growers’ Council said it was too early to estimate losses, but it was clear the bill would be significant, particularly for growers around Innisfail and most of the Cassowary Coast region.
“It’s another bitter blow to growers who have suffered enormously with consecutive years of low prices and more recently critical worker shortages due to Covid,” council chair Stephen Lowe said.
But the council did not expect banana prices to skyrocket in the wake of the storm, with the Tully and Lakeland growers escaping much of the damage.
“If there is a short firming of retail prices, it would be only for the short term,” a spokesperson for the council told the Guardian. “While this event is devastating for those affected, the price impact will be nowhere like that seen after Cyclone Yasi, when a large majority of the industry was hit.”
Cassowary Coast grower Dianne Sciacca said she and her farmer neighbours expected to be without incomes until September or October.
“Most of the farms beside us, they’re looking at 90 to 100% [damage], we’re probably 80 to 90,” she has told the ABC.
Communities from Cape Melville to Innisfail, including Cooktown, Port Douglas and Cairns were warned to prepare for more wild weather before the cyclone began to track further offshore.
The Townsville radar went offline on Sunday but the Australian Bureau of Meteorology reassured the community
this hadn’t affected its ability to issue forecasts and warnings.
It was estimated to be up and running again by Thursday.
Two people were rescued from floodwaters near the Star River, west of Townsville, about 9.30pm on Monday.
The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said residents should follow the BoM for updates.
“My main message today to people in the far north, and they’ve dealt with heavy rain before and cyclones so they know exactly what they’re doing, but if it’s flooded, forget it,” she said on Tuesday.
Tara Bennett, from Tourism Port Douglas Daintree, said her area had not suffered any damage.
She was worried reports of wild weather across the far north could result in more cancellations for local operators, who are heavily dependent on international tourists who can’t visit because of the pandemic.
“We have barely had a gust of wind or rain,” she has told the ABC. “I want people to be confident that our travel experiences are open. In a day or two the skies will be clear.”