Thick mud covered Steve Pilla's boots as the farmer sloshed through waterlogged sugarcane paddocks despite rainfall finally easing.
The early signs are not good. At least 40cm of water still remains in his cane fields at Giru, near Townsville.
"It's not as bad as the flooding in 2019 but one farmer told me he has only just got back to where he was before those floods," the Canegrowers Burdekin director told AAP.
"So it's given him another hit."
Mr Pilla is one of many in clean-up mode in Queensland's north after almost two weeks of flooding that claimed two lives and forced hundreds to evacuate.
As a cyclone looms off Western Australia's Pilbara coast, relief has finally come for those in the Sunshine State with a break in the weather on Wednesday allowing farmers to assess the flooding damage.
The Townsville region usually receives 600 to 1000mm of rain annually but the recent wet weather broke records, delivering the minimum rainfall average in just three days.
At a time when farmers prep fields for the next cane season, paddocks are still waterlogged.
Cane is resilient but some crops may be destroyed, inflicting a significant financial toll.
Mr Pilla expects to lose at least 15 per cent of his crops.
"While we're not turning over dollars we're not spending it in local towns and businesses, so it affects everyone," he said.
Farmers are usually a stoic bunch, but the latest flooding setback has taken a toll.
"It's hard to deal with the flood while it is happening but everyone knows you've got to get on with it," Mr Pilla said.
The danger has not passed with flood warnings and watches still in place across the north.
The Bruce Highway has been closed near the Seymour River and locals are sweating on inland link the Flinders Highway reopening near Charters Towers.
There is also a health risk with heavy rainfall being blamed for above average cases of soil-borne bacterial disease melioidosis, claiming two lives in the Cairns region.
But the rain that isolated communities, closed schools and damaged roads has eased,
The flood-damaged Ollera Creek Bridge near Ingham reopened to the public after the army's assistance and power has been restored in regions left in the dark for a week.
"Things are looking very, very positive for the days ahead," Queensland Premier David Crisafulli told reporters in Giru.
"And whilst it won't all be dry, those monsoonal rains won't be there, and that will help lift the spirits."
In WA, Tropical Cyclone Zelia formed overnight and was situated about 180km north of Port Hedland on Wednesday afternoon AEDT.
It became a category two system with wind gusts up to 130km/h, expected to make landfall from late Thursday.
Areas between Karratha and Wallal Downs, including Port Hedland, were at the highest risk with the cyclone looming, the bureau said.
The Port of Port Hedland will be closed from Wednesday evening with all berths and anchorages cleared in preparation for the system.
Cyclone Zelia could become a category three system by Friday.
If it does intensify, wind gusts of 160km/h and heavy rainfall leading to flash flooding are possible between Bidyadanga and Port Hedland in coming days.
"Regardless of intensity, we expect this system to produce very heavy rainfall and areas close to the path could see in excess of 500mm over the course of this event," said the bureau's James Ashley said.
