Damage bill for fruit growers into millions

There's been a collective sigh of relief in the north west town of Carnarvon today as the worst floodwaters in history start to reced. But the feeling is bitter sweet. Fruit and vegetable producers are now realising millions of dollars damage to their plantations. This morning grape grower Dom Condo was able to assess his property for the first time, he says there's total devastation wherever you look. "We've had water across 70 per cent of our property, we've had netting structures torn down, there's mud, there's silt, we don't know when we're going to be able to get in an pick our grapes." Mr Condo is one of the regions largest table grape growers, he usually picks 50,000 cartons of grapes each year. He says 25 per cent of his crop has been ruined, the rest has an increased risk of disease. But he's certainly not alone. "Basically looking around there's driveways, watermelon crops have been washed away. "Tomato plants on trellis have been washed away. "Total mango crops have been lost. "Roads and driveways have been wrecked. "Huge soil erosion. "Where do I start and where do I stop." Markets in Perth are already reacting to the lack of produce coming in from the Carnarvon area. Some fruit and vegetable prices have doubled overnight. President of the Independent Grocers Association John Cummings says getting fruit delivered to Perth has been near impossible. "Yesterday we tried to order some mangoes, some sizes and some varieties were not available in Perth at all. "We saw prices for mangoes jump by over 50 per cent from Friday to Monday. "We'd expect them to go up another 50 per cent tomorrow."