WACO, Texas (FOX 44) – The City of Waco has announced its new Emergency Management Coordinator.

The City says Ryan Dirker will be serving as the Emergency Management Coordinator for the Waco-McLennan County Office of Emergency Management, effective October 8. Ryan previously served as the Assistant Emergency Management Coordinator before assuming the interim coordinator role in May 2023.

In rhis role, Dirker will oversee and facilitate the five phases of emergency management for McLennan County and the City of Waco – including preventing, mitigating against, preparing for, responding to, and recovering from the effects of all hazards. Ryan has over twelve years of emergency management experience from various private and public organizations – including disaster management, railroad derailment clean-ups, regional hazard planning, severe weather response and volunteer management.

The City says Dirker’s previous experience includes logistical support to hospitals in the Dallas/Fort Worth area during the 2014 Ebola response and daily operations in the State Operations Center for the Texas Division of Emergency Management, where he was involved in every state activation from 2016 – 2020, including Hurricane Harvey and COVID-19.

Dirker earned his Bachelor of Science in Emergency Administration and Disaster Planning from the University of North Texas in 2012.