When Gavin Dear paddled down the flooded streets of Rossville, Queensland in a canoe on Sunday, a “real chill” went down his spine. Rapid brown waters were lapping at the trunks of rainforest trees and rumour had it that a group of people were stranded on the roof of the town’s Lion’s Den Hotel.
All roads to Rossville, a small town south of Cooktown, were inaccessible and power was largely out as the rising Annan River added to the threat of pummelling rains.
