Whanganui's man for a disaster: Anthony Edwards named as part of Emergency Management Assistance Team

Anthony Edwards has responded to emergencies such as the Whanganui floods, Raetihi water contamination, Cyclone Gita in Taranaki and this year's Nelson fires. Photo / Bevan Conley

If there is anybody you want around in the event of a natural disaster, it is Anthony Edwards.

Edwards, 40, has been announced as a member of the Emergency Management Assistance Team (EMAT) by Civil Defence Minister Hon Peeni Henare.

The Whanganui District Council emergency management officer said he pushed to be a part of the team and was stoked when he made the cut.

"It was a pretty full on selection with quite a few exams and interviews," Edwards said.

"Then it was two weeks of training down in Camp Wainui focused on leadership, self awareness, cultural awareness and a lot of exercises."

Previously known as the Fly In Team, the EMAT provides support in an emergency response and was announced as part of the Emergency Management System Reform.

Edwards started part-time with Civil Defence in 2012, but went full time in 2015 after what was coined Whanganui's worst flooding.

He also helped with the 2013 floods, the Raetihi water contamination and more recently Cyclone Gita in Taranaki and this year's Nelson fires.

"I had a Navy background. I joined straight after school and done quite a few deployments, peacekeeping in the Arabian Gulf, Timor and Bougainville.

"I thought it would be great to get back and help the community through Civil Defence."

Edwards was born in Auckland, but went to Whanganui High School. His dad Percy was in the Navy for more than 20 years and brother Kingi joined the Army.

His brother's wedding in Bali gave him the opportunity to be involved in a large scale emergency: the MT Agung eruptions, which continued until June this year.

Edwards said when he went to the Indonesian province, they had just evacuated more than 50,000 people from within a 10km radius of the mountain.

"They extended it another 5km and it went up to about 120,000 people. It was amazing to see how many resources they have," he said.

"In Bali they'd strengthened a lot of their bridges before the lahars came down. They already had text alert systems in place. We've just picked it up in the past couple of years."

Edwards was able to demonstrate some of the skills he learned and provide information about his experiences during a Ruapehu emergency response exercise in May.

The multi-agency training exercise involved people from emergency services, the Army, DOC, RAL, GNS Science, health and local iwi as well as civil defence personnel.

They all had to work together to replicate how they would respond if Mt Ruapehu had a major eruption.

"There was a lot from Bali that I put into the Ruapehu training, just on evacuations and I learned a lot about being prepared for lahars," Edwards said.

"In real time we planned on how they would evacuate the mountain, different ways they would get the message out, the vehicles they would use and the resources."

The next time Edwards will be deployed with EMAT, they are doing an earthquake training exercise at Hawke's Bay's Hikurangi Trench.