THE price of fruit and vegetables looks certain to soar as floods in the northern part of the state affect growers' crops and livelihoods.
Melons, capsicum, cucumber, tomatoes, grapes and chillies have all been destroyed in the floods which ravaged the town of Carnarvon over the weekend, according to VegetablesWA executive officer Jim Turley.
Mr Turley said although it was not peak season for growing produce, a lot of damage had occurred due to the late planting of some crops.
He said low-laying crops such as grapes were "grossly affected", but tree-baring produce such as bananas and mangoes had been spared by the rising waters.
Mr Turley said it was inevitable the price of certain lines of produce such as melons, tomatoes, cucumber, grapes and capsicum would rise.
"For the industry as whole it is going to cost growers millions and millions of dollars to recover," Mr Turley said.
"It is very, very devastating."
Carnarvon resident Dianne Masters, who works at Carnarvon Quality Fruit and Veg, echoed Mr Turley's concerns and said prices would "skyrocket".
Ms Masters said the rise in the price of grapes would be enormous and all varieties of melons as well as pumpkins would bear the burden of a price hike.
"Produce will have to be brought in from interstate," she said. "There are millions and millions of dollars worth of vegetables just gone."
Ms Masters said most produce was due to be picked soon but most of it was now waterlogged and destroyed.
She said there was hope for mango crops, the areas in which they grew was still inaccessible and a full damage assessment was yet to be made.
Ms Masters said fruit and vegetables could be seen floating down the street late yesterday as floods ripped through the close-knit community. Water levels were expected to reach nearly eight metres today.
So far almost 90 people have been rescued in the floods, which have been described as the worst in 50 years.
At Nine Mile Bridge the river level had risen to 7.7 metres and was expected to rise slowly ahead of its peak of 7.8 to 7.9 metres.
About 30 state emergency services officers and FESA volunteers, together with state and local government workers, were working in the area.
