Tropical Cyclone Marcia is gone, but it has left an impression on central Queensland that many will not soon forget.

The category five system made landfall on Friday morning, tearing through townships such as Yeppoon and Rockhampton, and inundating surrounding areas with floodwaters.

• Queenslanders stare down Marcia
• Cyclone Lam downgraded, clean-up to begin
• Yeppoon begins to count the cost

This weekend, while residents in the south-east corner of the state endured the wrath of ex-Tropical Cyclone Marcia, their counterparts to the north were busy cleaning up the mess and getting on with life as best they could.

At Yeppoon, there were some trying to make the best of a bad situation.

They lined up out the door at the local drive-in bottle shop and even the beach, while officially closed, earned a bit of interest from locals keen to beat cabin fever.

But for some residents, this weekend marked the beginning of a very long road to recovery.

Trees came down across powerlines and fences while some missed homes by metres and even inches.

Other properties were not so lucky, with 260km/h gusts ripping out roofing and tearing out walls from homes.

On Saturday, residents sought through the belongings they were unable to take with them when they evacuated, salvaging what they could and leaving the rest destined for landfill.

By early morning, piles of green waste had also begun to grow on footpaths. Some streets were deadly quiet besides the odd sound of a chainsaw in the air.

State Emergency Services (SES) personnel were also spotted throughout the area, slowly making their way through its long list of calls from concerned residents.

If the workload was not enough to tire them, perhaps the temperature was. It hit the low 30s in the area over the weekend, a stark reminder that summer was not over yet.

Power outages prompt petrol queues in Rockhampton

In Rockhampton, ex-Tropical Cyclone Marcia’s footprint was everywhere.

Even on the outskirts they were easy to spot – the long grass and small trees that once stood straight by the creeks were crushed flat, moved by the force of the rushing waters a day earlier.

People with their jerry cans queue at a petrol station. Photo: ABC

Just how badly Marcia had hit only became more obvious closer to the coast, with more and more trees stripped of their bark, leaves and branches, and some just snapped in two or uprooted.

Upon entry to Rockhampton, the picture became a whole lot clearer.

Vegetation was scattered around the streets like confetti, traffic signs were either bent, broken or missing.

Various sets of traffic lights were inoperable with electricity cut to thousands thanks to the 1,800 power lines brought down in the Ergon Energy network.

That did not deter motorists from taking to the streets though, with hundreds queuing up for hours to pump petrol at the town’s only open and unaffected service station.