There is also a possibility of a storm surge occurring during cyclone events. ... It is caused by a combination of strong winds driving water onshore and the lower atmospheric pressure in a tropicalcyclone. In the southern hemisphere the onshore winds occur to the left of the tropical cyclone's path.

The main source of energy for tropical cyclones is the warm oceans in the tropical regions. To initiate a tropical cyclone the sea-surface temperature generally needs to be above 26.5°C. However, existing cyclones often persist as they move over cooler waters.

The development of a tropical cyclone also relies on favourable broad-scale wind regimes and can persist for several days with many following quite erratic paths. They lose their source of energy when they move over land or colder oceans causing them to dissipate. Weakening may also occur if the cyclone moves into an unfavourable wind regime which disrupts the structure of the system. Sometimes a decaying tropical cyclone may interact with a weather system in higher latitudes to cause impacts far from the tropics.

 

Peak group Canegrowers predicts flash flooding and fierce winds have cost the sugar cane industry tens of millions of dollars and it will have long-term impacts on regional communities.

Canegrowers chairman Paul Schembri says it will take days to tally the cost.

He says heavy rain and cyclonic winds have damaged 90 per cent of far north Queensland's cane fields.

"That's unprecedented, and there's no doubt this will have a knock-on impact to a whole range of regional communities," he said.

"There's a lot of cane that has been knocked over by the forces of wind and rain and of course there are a lot of paddocks and cane in various districts that have been subjected to the impacts of flooding.

"It appears that the damage bill is going to run into the tens of millions of dollars but I guess we won't know the final figure right up until harvest."

Mr Schembri says it could take years for farmers to recover what has been lost.

"Certainly I don't ever recall a cyclone that has caused so much damage across so much of the canegrowing regions in Queensland," he said.

"Our sugar industry is located in coastal regional communities.

"In many districts, they form the centrepiece of regional economic hubs and so I guess if sugar cane farmers' and millers' income is depressed, obviously that can have an ongoing impact on regional communities."