David Lean is retiring as Taranaki Civil Defence controller after more than three decades leading the response to major storms, floods and tornadoes in the region.
As Taranaki's 'Mr Civil Defence' since the 1980s, David Lean has vivid memories of some of the region's most dire moments.
"Standing by Paritutu Rock during Cyclone Bola in 1988, watching winds so powerful that they were pushing the sea back out to sea - that was frightening," he says. "I was doubly concerned as the father of three young children and knowing the roof was peeling off my own house. But Civil Defence duties had to take precedence."
Similarly, there was tension in the early stages of the emergency that was declared after a swarm of tornadoes swept through Oakura in July 2007. "That was a nasty, life-threatening situation. One young woman was injured when a window shattered but thankfully, there were no other casualties. The property damage was horrendous, though, and lives were seriously disrupted."
David reels off other big Civil Defence moments - Cyclone Hilda and the Waitara floods of 1990, the Waitotara floods in 2004 and most recently, the widespread flooding and slips in June 2015, resulting in a week-long state of emergency.