Copilot said: For the fifth anniversary of the Ahr Valley floods, action medeor spoke with three people affected by the disaster. Photo: © action medeor Info Copilot said: For the fifth anniversary of the Ahr Valley floods, action medeor spoke with three people affected by the disaster. Photo: © action medeor Five years after the floods: action medeor takes stock Press releases 13 July 2026 Five years after the devastating floods in western Germany, action medeor looks back on the support it provided to the affected communities and regions. In July 2021, action medeor became active in Germany for the first time in its history. What began as acute emergency relief with medical supplies, water purification tablets and equipment developed into a multi-year commitment to rebuilding healthcare, nursing and social care structures – with a particular focus on the Ahr Valley. “The floods did not only destroy houses, roads and bridges; they also wiped out established healthcare structures,” says Sid Peruvemba, CEO of action medeor. “Our goal was therefore to support people and organisations on the ground in restoring these structures and regaining their ability to act.” Over the past five years, action medeor has invested around four million euros in these efforts. The assistance was funded entirely through donations, including contributions from Aktion Deutschland Hilft, the alliance of relief organisations of which action medeor is a member. The organisation’s commitment was particularly visible in the Ahr Valley. In Kalenborn, action medeor and Pharmacists Without Borders Germany established a temporary container facility that housed Dr. Stefanie Nacke’s family medical practice and Inge Göttling’s Burg Pharmacy after their premises in Altenahr had been destroyed. This enabled medical and pharmaceutical services for many thousands of people in the region to resume very quickly. Dr. Stefanie Nacke vividly recalls the importance of this support: “Without this help, I would never have been able to resume primary healthcare services so quickly.” For many people, she explains, a family doctor’s practice is “the first and often only direct point of contact for both physical and psychological health concerns.” Especially after the disaster, familiar local healthcare services provided an important source of stability. Pharmacist Inge Göttling also emphasizes the importance of the temporary solution. “Thanks to action medeor’s support, we were able to continue working from day one and provide the population with medicines properly,” says the owner of the former Burg Pharmacy in Altenahr, who has since relocated to new premises in Ahrbrück. “Without the help of action medeor, we simply would not have been able to continue operating without interruption.” After the practice and pharmacy moved into permanent facilities, the container units in Kalenborn found a new purpose. action medeor and Pharmacists Without Borders converted them to create space for psychotherapeutic services. As time passed, the psychological consequences of the disaster became increasingly apparent. Trauma, exhaustion, anxiety and depression shaped the daily lives of many affected people, not least because the demands of reconstruction, bureaucracy and altered living conditions continued to place a heavy burden on them for years. Another major focus of the flood relief programme was support for older people and those in need of care. Early on, action medeor supported senior citizen programmes, mobile nursing services and a temporary support centre operated by the Adenau-Altenahr Social Care Service. This eventually evolved into a long-term reconstruction project: the new “Mittendrin” Day-Care Centre in Hönningen-Liers. Designed for 16 day-care guests, the facility aims to relieve family caregivers while providing older people with opportunities for social interaction, care and community participation. Uwe Szymanski, head of the Adenau-Altenahr Social Care Service, describes the new centre as “a tremendous blessing for the people in this region.” Only a year ago, a dilapidated residential building stood on the site. Today, there is a modern day-care facility in the heart of the village. “The centre provides urgently needed support for local residents and makes an important contribution to improving long-term care services after the flood disaster,” says Szymanski. In addition to these flagship projects, action medeor supported numerous other initiatives in the Ahr Valley and other flood-affected regions of western Germany, including: Medical supplies, water purification tablets, equipment and solar-powered street lighting in heavily damaged communities such as Dernau and Rech Multi-purpose facilities for crisis management teams, psychosocial support services and community activities Support for senior citizens’ programmes, home-care services and mobility solutions for the Adenau-Altenahr Social Care Service Funding for sports and physical activity programmes for children and young people, including projects in Eschweiler, Mayschoß, Trier-Ehrang and other locations Overall, action medeor’s support was characterised by an approach that combined emergency relief, transitional solutions and sustainable reconstruction. “In the first phase, the priority was rapid assistance and closing critical gaps in healthcare provision. Afterwards, we worked together with local partners to identify where structures could be strengthened permanently,” say Sid Peruvemba, Spokesperson of the Executive Board. With the completion of the final projects, action medeor now considers its flood-relief work in Germany to be concluded. “We are grateful that we were able to help during an extraordinary disaster – and grateful for the trust placed in us by donors who made this support possible,” says Peruvemba. “Five years on, we can say that the projects we took on have either been successfully completed or transferred into stable long-term structures. With this, action medeor’s flood-relief programme in Germany comes to an end.” Donate Health Your donation enables us to provide medical care to people in crisis and disaster regions. Donate Now Your contact person Dr. Markus Bremers Staff unit Press spokesman Phone: +49 2156 9788-178 TPL_EMAIL This email address is being protected from spambots. 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