The aftermath of Cyclone Debbie is starting to sink in for north Queensland residents as some prepare to walk away from their business and the region.
A shell-shocked Dave McInerney emerged from the rubble of his Shute Harbour Motel at daylight on Wednesday to survey the damage.
He spent most of Tuesday huddled in the toilet of one of the rooms with his caretaker Dave Thompson and dog Spotty.
Mr McInerney said it would take a while to get his head around what had happened.
"We could just hear really huge noises and that outside," he told AAP.
"You don't know what you're going to meet when you come out."
Mr McInerney's dad started the business about 50 years ago.
It was one of the first tourist spots to land in the area.
But Mr McInerney said the extent of the damage caused by the category four cyclone meant he would now likely walk away.
"It depends a lot on the insurance," he said.
"More than likely it'll be demolished and sold as a development site.
"These days it's really not worth rebuilding a small business like this."
Mr Thompson said the ferociousness of Cyclone Debbie was an "eye opener".
"I think I'll probably pack up and go now, that's enough," he told AAP.
"I've worked in the Gulf of Carpentaria and seen some pretty bad storms but this one took the cake."
The Airlie Beach resident of 18 years said he'd had a good run, but Cyclone Debbie had been too much.
"I was in room nine but the windows came in and that was it," he said.
"Lucky I moved when I did because the whole back of the building came off anyway.
"We just listened to it demolish around us."
'Like a fighter jet': Airlie Beach locals describe Cyclone Debbie
