The recent cyclone in Far North Queensland has caused substantial damage to banana crops which will severely affect availability and prices in the weeks and months to come, according to Australian retail giant Woolworths (ASX: WOW).

The company increased the shelf price of bananas to $5.98 per kilo in line with today's wholesale market price.

Woolworths said its price also “reflects the fact that we have retrospectively more than doubled the payments made to banana growers in the last seven days to the tune of over $3.9 million to help compensate them for crop damage caused by the cyclone.”

“Back paying farmers in this way will assist them to recover faster and survive the short term financial impact of crop shortages.”

Despite the damage, early indications are that the banana crop is not as badly affected as it was after Cyclone Larry.

Woolworths also said operations at Woolworths, BIG W and other stores in northern Queensland continue to be disrupted due to Cyclone Yasi.

“However, we are pleased to announcethat all but three of our supermarkets in the cyclone affected zone are now open - including all stores in Cairns.”

Several stores continue to be affected by power and water outages or damage to surrounding shopping centres with Woolworths Mission Beach sustaining some roof damage.

“We are doing everything we can to reopen stores as soon as possible. As the safety of our staff and customers is our priority we will only open stores when authorities have deemed it is safe to do so,” Woolworths said.