Power is slowly being restored to petrol stations and other essential services at Airlie Beach, as the clean up continues after Cyclone Debbie.
Generators were brought in on trucks on Friday morning to help a community who have been without power since the early hours of Tuesday.
It followed the arrival of the army with 20,000 litres of drinking water.
Long queues formed outside service stations as they opened for the first time since the cyclone.
Ergon Energy's Brett Judge said about 60 crew had arrived in Bowen on Thursday night, and some would move into Airlie Beach on Friday.
Mr Judge said the generators, requested by Whitsunday Regional Council, would be used to connect essential services like sewerage treatment plants, petrol stations, hospitals and supermarkets.
"That sort of work is a priority," he told AAP on Friday.
Mr Judge said road access to Airlie Beach had hampered efforts to restore power, but now the issue was power lines being immersed in mud.
"They are moving as quickly as they can as soon as it's safe to do so," he said.
Council workers shut off the main shopping strip on Friday so they could clean-up fallen trees and dirt strewn over the road.
Some business owners returned to their shops to start cleaning up the damage caused by the category four cyclone and a storm the next day.
Live Life Pharmacy manager Karen Milostic cried when she walked into one of her stores. It only reopened six months ago following extensive renovations to reduce damage caused by bad weather.
"The shop had been flooded twice before," she told AAP.
Ms Milostic said although the damage from Cyclone Debbie was less, two of the three shops would need to be re-done.
"This is going to take months," she said.
"But you've got to get on with it."
