Supermarket shelves have been stripped bare as panic buying emerges as the latest challenge to hit tropical cyclone-hit northern Australia.
Freight routes in Western Australia's northwest have been cut by flooding in Cyclone Zelia's wake, frustrating Broome residents trying to buy grocery staples and replenish business supplies.
Martin Long went to the local supermarket to stock up his Thai restaurant, only to walk away empty handed.
"There's not a scrap of food on those shelves," he told AAP.
The Broome resident was not able to open his restaurant, Ginreab Thai, on Sunday night due to the food shortage triggered by Zelia's impact.
The former category five system has been downgraded to a tropical low since it crossed the coast near Port Hedland on Friday but heavy rain is set to persist for days, further impacting isolated communities.
Flooding has cut roads across the region including the Great Northern Highway which connects the northwest with WA's south, ensuring no fresh supplies for many towns including Broome.
Mr Long has resorted to a limited menu to reopen his restaurant and do his bit to help the embattled town.
"Anyone that doesn't have food stocks at home, or can't cook, or is too busy to cook, then we can help them," he said.
Empty shelves are nothing new to Mr Long who said supermarkets are bare in the remote town after every cyclone or flooding event.
"Everyone panic buys and that doesn't help the situation," he said.
"They take enough food for about four weeks and no one else has anything to eat or got nothing to wipe their bum."
Roads in the remote Pilbara region are set to be cut for days.
But Broome Shire president Chris Mitchell said contingencies were in place to have trucks arrive via South Australia and the Northern Territory to help restock stores.
The full extent of flood damage caused by Zelia is not expected to be known until water levels recede.
WA Premier Roger Cook on Monday said government financial assistance would be available once rapid damage assessments were completed, with De Grey and Carlindie stations the worst hit.
"I have been advised that floodwaters are pretty much at peak," he told reporters.
"Hopefully we will start to see those floodwaters recede over the next few days but it's still a difficult situation."
The shire president of Australia's largest local government area, East Pilbara, said it could be 10 days before flood levels begin to fall.
Road closures are a concern for East Pilbara Shire which is larger than Victoria and Tasmania combined, featuring more than 3000km of unsealed roads.
It features communities like Marble Bar and Nullagine which have been told they could be cut off for some time, with people in Sandy Desert also receiving a "prepare for isolation" warning on Monday.
"Trying to get supplies to communities in our area - that's the challenge we face every time we have unprecedented rain," East Pilbara Shire president Anthony Middleton told AAP.
Heavy rainfall inundated the region with Coolenar Pool fed by the De Grey River near Marble Bar peaking at nine metres, breaking a 25-year record.
Showers and thunderstorms are set to linger for days but are not expected to cause "significant" flooding, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
One of the world's largest iron ore hubs, Port Hedland, has reopened after being closed for days ahead of Zelia's impact with mining giants including BHP indicating no major damage to their sites.
