PIP COURTNEY, REPORTER: For the first time, Northern Australia faced two simultaneous cyclones. In the Northern Territory, Cyclone Lam left behind an $80 million housing reconstruction bill. While in Queensland, Cyclone Marcia hit farmers hard, causing millions of dollars worth of damage to crops and infrastructure. Queensland farmers have now copped three disastrous weather events in four years, leaving farm leaders worried about the financial resilience and endurance of even the very best farmers.

In the hours before Tropical Cyclone Marcia smashed into Queensland, it was upgraded to a Category Five, the most severe.

ANNASTACIA PALASZCZUK, QUEENSLAND PREMIER: Many thousands of Queenslanders are about to go through a harrowing and terrifying experience.

PIP COURTNEY: Marcia brought 200 kilometre an hour winds, heavy rain and flooding. Worst hit was the beach town of Yeppoon.

But the impact was felt inland and further south, with flooding in several country towns, including Gympie and Biloela.

Despite the dire predictions, no lives were lost. But the damage bill is in the tens of millions.

For the rural sector, it was "Here we go again".

CHARLES BURKE, AGFORCE: Some of our members and some farmers in some of these regions, this is their third significant disaster event in four years. That will take its toll on the absolute strongest in any sense.

PIP COURTNEY: Charles Burke fears it will be too much for some.

CHARLES BURKE: The reality is that after three significant events in four years, financial pressure, there will be some people that may think that they've reached a point where they don't want to run this risk again.

PIP COURTNEY: In the Australia Day flood of 2013, Gayndah citrus grower Ken Roth lost 6,000 trees and thousands of dollars worth of irrigation equipment.

He and the orchard were in recovery mode when Marcia hit, just a week from harvest.

KEN ROTH, CITRUS GROWER: We couldn't believe it, to see all the water - top of the trees just sticking out of the water and that. It was really painful to think that it could happen again after just getting everything back how you wanted it and just waiting for the trees to grow.

PIP COURTNEY: These young trees, planted after the last flood, won't survive.

The two-metre flood surge destroyed equipment and dumped hundreds of tonnes of debris.

KEN ROTH: You've just got to look positive and get in and do it and have another go. But if it happens too much again, I think I'll be calling it quits, because it's just not fun any more. It's just sort of starting to get to me. I know it's really starting to hurt. I'm just thinking, "Am I doing it all for nothing?"

PIP COURTNEY: In Biloela and Jambin, more than 400 houses and businesses were flooded. But angry locals believe the scale of the damage could have been avoided, criticising SunWater's management of the Callide Dam.

GREG LEE, BUSINESSMAN: They had time to let that water go. Why did they let it go at the 12th hour, you know? They're supposed to be professional people, mate.

PIP COURTNEY: An independent investigation into the automatic release of water during the cyclone will be held.

CHARLES BURKE: I think what's important going forward, though, is that there is an investigation and a review of the practices about what transpired. I think the best thing that we can hope for is to get the facts and then we'll comment later as to whether it was - you know, well handled or not.

PIP COURTNEY: The pineapple industry around Yeppoon took one of its worst hits in memory.

ALEX LIVINGSTONE, GROWCOM: They've lost about 75 per cent of the fruit which they were hoping to harvest around about now and the 25 per cent that was left has been downgraded significantly in quality. They're also looking at interruptions to their mid-year picking because the flowers which were going to turn into fruit by that stage have been damaged as well. And then the very young plants, which are 12 to 18 months away, have been sandblasted, so there's a lot of damage to the plant which could allow disease in, so they don't know whether or not those plants are going to survive.

PIP COURTNEY: Cole and Nathan Stephens are facing huge losses.

COLE STEPHENS, PINEAPPLE GROWER: They're sunburnt like that. The fruit's that soft, you can just put your fingers through it. We're just going through - I think we're getting about two out of 10, send it to the cannery and hope we don't get crucified too much with rejects.

NATHAN STEPHENS, PINEAPPLE GROWER: It's all laying over and it's been stripped of any of its natural protection and it's burning in front of our eyes.

PIP COURTNEY: Pineapples take two years to grow, so recovery will be slow.

FARMER: So, cash flow'll be a bit light on between here and next year.

PIP COURTNEY: This 1,700-tree macadamia orchard was destroyed.

ERROL VASS, MACADAMIA GROWER: Oh, it's, yeah, it's devastating, yeah. After seeing what was on the trees and how good the trees were looking and, yeah, getting all set up ready for the year and then you lose it in six hours, basically.

PIP COURTNEY: Errol Vass had plans to pass the business on to his daughter.

SANDY VASS, DAUGHTER: 'Cause he's got some massive decisions to make about his future and for him to have to do that, it's heartbreaking.

ERROL VASS: It's a huge job. We'll probably get a bulldozer and just push the lot into a big heap, yeah.

PIP COURTNEY: Central Queensland's tropical fruit industry took a pounding.

ALEX LIVINGSTONE: The major crops in that area are pineapples and tropical fruit trees like avocados, mangos, lychees, dragon fruit, those sorts of things and the damage has been pretty severe for those people who are affected. They've lost all the fruit that was hanging on trees ready to go, so that's completely gone. They've lost a lot of netting for crop protection, they've lost infrastructure around pumps, machinery sheds, irrigation gear, all of that sort of thing.

PIP COURTNEY: While the cane industry escaped major damage, AgForce, which represents livestock and grain producers, says it's still trying to find out how its members have fared.

CHARLES BURKE: Over the impact area, our members alone occupy about 1.25 million hectares. So, there's a lot of people over a lot of country that we still haven't been able to get to speak to yet to ascertain exactly what damage they've experienced. Certainly there's a lot of fencing damage, a lot of road damage, a lot of soil erosion and a lot of crop damage, but certainly at this stage, we don't expect major stock losses. There are a lot of displaced stock due to the infrastructure damage for fences, etc., but we're hopeful that the stock losses will be a minimum.

PIP COURTNEY: Growcom, which represents the state's horticultural industry, is worried about those farmers unlucky enough to have been affected by repeated extreme weather events.

ALEX LIVINGSTONE: Quite disturbing and upsetting to see people who've been hit multiple times. Quite often disaster recovery assistance would include perhaps a low interest loan with a two-year moratorium on interest and repayments. So if you have one in 2011, one in 2013 and one in 2015, you could be just backing these things up and it would become a mountain that would be very, very difficult to climb.

PIP COURTNEY: Alex Livingstone says it's vital farmers can hold on to their permanent staff while they rebuild their operations.

ALEX LIVINGSTONE: What we're doing now is compiling the detailed information from all the producers that we can reach to say how many jobs that would be at risk if there were no wage assistance. We'll pass that through to State Government and hopefully they'll negotiate with Federal Government to come back with a suitable package that's going to keep those people on the farm, earning money and supporting the local communities.

PIP COURTNEY: Queensland wasn't the only state counting the cost of cyclone season. In the Northern Territory, Category Four Cyclone Lam left behind an $80 million housing repair bill in communities along the Arnhem Land coast and on Elcho Island.

ANDREW WARTON, NT EMERGENCY SERVICES: It's extremely hot out here and what we're asking our volunteers to do is to put in long days on the end of heavy machinery in order to make this community safe.

PIP COURTNEY: For all the rain she brought, Marcia didn't make it over the Great Dividing Range, so the parched inland of Queensland remains in drought.

CHARLES BURKE: It is Queensland, I guess it is agriculture and we've always been at the mercy of weather. I guess so it shouldn't be a surprise, but it certainly makes it very difficult to plan. And, you know, here we are in this part of the state, you know, close to the coast, where we're talking about our third significant event in four years, whereas in the central west and north-west of the state they're experiencing drought conditions and they haven't had a reasonable wet season for the last three years.

PIP COURTNEY: Social media proved an invaluable tool, helping farmers stay in touch and share information about roads and bridges.

In 2013, Biggenden dairy farmer Robbie Redell lost all his fences in the floods and then experienced the driest conditions in two years. Then, Marcia turned up, bringing seven inches in four hours. With calves still crook from being wet, pasture smothered in silt and a ruined milking machine, a video he posted on his Facebook page summed up the frustrations of the last few years.

ROBBIE REDELL, DAIRY FARMER: Here it is, people. This is the reason that we love farming. And a big f**k you to the milk companies that think we can do it for 54 cents.