HARDSHIP payments have been approved for the communities of Cooktown, Hope Vale, Wujal Wujal and Laura in the wake of Cyclone Ita, Premier Campbell Newman announced last night.
He said while it was too early to put a damage bill on the statewide impact of Cyclone Ita, the destruction across the far north had been widespread.
He said people without power in urban areas could expect power to be restored by this evening, with rural residents possibly waiting an extra day.
"It might, in some cases, take a few weeks for some customers," he said.
He also urged people who had booked holidays in affected areas not to immediately cancel, and to check the current conditions with tourism operators.
"People are cancelling, and frankly there's no reason for them to do so...the sun was shining in Cooktown and Hope Vale today, and I'm sure the sun will be shining in Cookie tomorrow, in Cairns and Townsville. So come to Queensland for a holiday, please," he said.
Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Pradeep Singh said the worst of Ita was behind Queensland.
However he said gale force winds would remain along the coast for at least another day.
Ergon Energy remains busy restoring power to more than 27,000 affected homes and businesses, while Telstra is working to reconnect landlines, ADSL connections and mobile networks
Flooding caused the Bruce Highway to be closed in areas north of Townsville, with the storm also forcing temporary closures of the Cairns and Townsville airports.
Flooding has cut off the town of Ingham, which is likely to become isolated several days, and $1 million of damage was recorded in the indigenous community of Hope Vale, north of Cooktown, where a banana plantation was savaged.
While many communities escaped largely unscathed from Cyclone Ita, residents of Lizard Island have no idea what has been left standing.
The northern Great Barrier Reef island, about 270 kilometres from Cairns, is home to a holiday resort and the Australia Museum Lizard Island Research Station.
The island was evacuated last week ahead of the cyclone, which eventually passed over on Friday night, bringing winds of up to 300km/h.
Workers from the resort were due to fly over the island by helicopter on Sunday to assess the damage, Lizard Island Research Centre director Lyle Vail said, while in Cairns on Sunday.
"Nobody's returned from to the island with a damage report, so we're all anxious to see what the damage was," he said.
Dr Vail, who has lived on Lizard Island for 24 years, said he was worried there could be damage to research centre's laboratory and equipment.
Meanwhile, life in Cooktown was starting to return to normal on Sunday, less than 48 hours after Ita crossed the coast.
There were fears the town could be wiped out, however there was only limited damage to properties.
At Cornett's IGA in Cooktown, residents were queuing up to before the store opened on Sunday to stock up on essential items.
"A lot of people catching up and saying how lucky they were," said Damon Pattinson, IGA Queensland's far north regional manager.
"A lot of things are back to normal and people are spending time cleaning up their yards."
Mr Pattinson said the store hadn't received any new deliveries since the cyclone hit, but there was enough stock to last until Wednesday.
