The eye of the storm may have passed, but the business community is bracing itself for the economic hit ex-tropical cyclone Debbie will bring in its wake.
Mining, agriculture and tourism have all been hit by the storm, which made landfall on Tuesday, bringing with it destructive winds of up to 260 kilometres an hour and heavy rain.
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The Bureau of Meteorology's latest warning on the rapidly changing weather situation in the aftermath of Cyclone Debbie. Courtesy: Bureau of Meteorology.
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Weather 'still packing some serious punch'
The Bureau of Meteorology's latest warning on the rapidly changing weather situation in the aftermath of Cyclone Debbie. Courtesy: Bureau of Meteorology.
Days later, Debbie's sting in the tail has seen communities in Queensland's south-east and northern New South Wales face "a wall of water" as rivers in prime agricultural bowls peaked.
WIth the damages bill still rolling in, the cost to the economy won't be known for some time. CBA senior economist John Peters said it was evident "that it will have a dampening effect" on the Queensland and national economies in the first and second quarters, as coal production and exports and other industries dip.
Cyclone Debbie hit a region responsible for more than $1 billion of agricultural production each year, with Bowen, in the state's north, responsible for about 95 per cent of the nation's winter supplies of tomatoes and capsicums.
Growcon estimated about 20 per cent of the total crop planted for the season has been damaged, which works out to about $100 million in vegetables. Cyclones Yasi, which hit the state in 2011 saw fruit and vegetable prices increase nationally, but supply issues were not expected to be felt until May.
The damage to sugar cane crops, which now includes those under water in northern NSW, was still being assessed, but according to Canegrowers production is expected to fall by at least $81 million across the Mackay/Whitsundays districts.
The storm also saw coal terminals at Abbot Point, Dalrymple Bay and Hay Point closed, disrupting exports. In his analysis, Mr Peters didn't expect the cost to the economy to be as high as 2011 when coal mines were flooded, but he does expect it to have an impact on inflation in the second half of the year.
At Shute Harbour Motel, east of Airlie Beach on the Whitsunday Coast, owner Dave McInerney was too busy taking stock to pay much attention to the future. The question of how he would rebuild his business was one that would have to come later - his primary concern on Friday was where to find petrol to get his generator up and running.
In the middle of one of the worst-hit areas, Mr McInerney and his 10-year-old Dalmatian, Spotty, rode out Debbie in a shelter. He returned to find his business in the town he'd lived in for the past half a century, destroyed.
"It is basically like losing a family member," he said.
"I haven't recovered enough to make sense from it. I'm just coping with things like getting food and water. We've been drinking out of creek and eating tinned food for the last couple of days. A community member just brought me a hot meal. We're coming together. But it's going to impact the coastal communities here quite a bit. You can see that."
In an area used to rebuilding from cyclones, Debbie has still made its mark.
Daniel Gschwind, CEO of the Queensland Tourism Industry Council, said annual expenditure in the Whitsundays came in at more than $700 million, while lower down the coast, the Mackay region, which was also badly hit, reaped about $500 million a year.
"So that works out to the Whitsundays losing about $2 million a day while tourism isn't operating and in Mackay, about $1.3 million a day. That expenditure supports 7000 jobs, about 40 per cent of the workforce - in the Whitsundays and in Mackay, between 5000 and 6000 jobs. So it is a significant impact," he said.
Queensland, the nation's second largest tourism market, has previously seen visitor numbers drop in the wake of large storm events.Â
"Don't give up on Queensland and support the communities by visiting it when they need it the most," he said.
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