Locals of cyclone-ravaged communities have urged Australians untouched by Cyclone Debbie to "embrace" north Queensland communities.
Airlie Beach Boost Juice manager Nina Carr was moved to the tears by the damage but said the community would get on with the job of rebuilding.
"We're a strong community and we'll band together and try and make it better than it was before," she told AAP.
"But we also need the rest of the country to come and embrace us.
"Come to north Queensland."
One of the hardest hit areas was Australia's second largest ferry terminal Shute Harbour, located 10km from Airlie Beach, which was decimated by Debbie as it tore across the coast on Tuesday.
Boat owner James Wighton said the cyclone had inflicted "millions of dollars" worth of infrastructural damage.
His $30,000 uninsured boat was destroyed during the 260km per hour winds.
Down the road, Shute Harbour Motel owner Dave McInerney was visibly shattered as the realisation his life's work had been demolished sunk in.
He said he would walk away from the business his dad built 50 years ago.
"More than likely it'll be demolished and sold as a development site," he told AAP.
Torrential rain hampered the efforts of emergency crews to assess the damage done in Bowen and the worse affected Proserpine.
Whitsunday Regional Council mayor Andrew Willcox described the area as a "war zone" but police later confirmed major infrastructure had been relatively unscathed.
But local business Plants Whitsunday had a strong message as north Queenslanders surveyed the damage of the Category 4 cyclone.
"Broken but not beaten," it read.
