McKay, QLD – Rev. David Ellis

From drought to flood. In January the McKay area, which had been droughtstricken, was lashed by torrential rain. In the space of a week the region received its annual rainfall. Joy turned to despair as cattle and crops were swept away by floodwaters. Cyclone Trevor hit 11 shires affecting more than 500 properties. The Cloncurry Shire Council asked David, to visit every remote property to provide an initial mental health assessment and to deliver emergency supplies. David is known as the ‘flying bush chaplain’ and, with his wife Janette, the couple visited 150 families and had over 450 phone conversations as key members of the disaster response team. Post flood, David is now dealing with a region where many have lost everything – home, animals, livelihood – and are trying to recover. His visits are now often to provide grief and loss counselling, critical incident debriefing, and early and late domestic violence intervention and referrals.