The Central Government Coordinates Access Recovery Efforts Following the Sumatra Natural Disaster

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The central government is focused on building coordination across ministries/agencies and sectors to restore access in disaster-affected areas in Sumatra. In addition to road access, the restoration of communication access that has been disrupted in several regions is also underway.

The handling of flash floods, landslides, and earthquakes occurring in North Sumatra, West Sumatra, and Aceh was discussed in a limited meeting between President Prabowo Subianto and several members of the Merah Putih Cabinet at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, Thursday (27/11/2025) afternoon. After the meeting, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Bima Arya Sugiarto revealed that the President requested the central government to quickly coordinate in addressing the disasters occurring on Sumatra Island.

Coordination among ministries/agencies and local governments is crucial, especially for restoring access to disaster-affected areas. As a result of the disaster, several regions are inaccessible due to disrupted transportation routes. The same applies to electricity and communication lines.

"The most important thing now is how to restore access, because the electricity is out, and communication lines are too," said Bima.

To that end, the Ministry of Home Affairs has coordinated with several regional heads and sent the Director General of Regional Administration to monitor disaster management.

The Ministry of Home Affairs is also coordinating to obtain helicopter assistance, both from the Regional Police and the National Police, for mobility in areas where roads are cut off. Furthermore, communication is being established with the Ministry of Communication and Digital to engage with telecommunications service companies to restore communication access.

Amid the communication breakdown, Bima stated that it is difficult to ascertain the number of victims due to the disaster. However, he assured that the central government continues to monitor reports of developments from each region.

The Minister of Communication and Digital (Komdigi) Meutya Hafid, who also attended the meeting with the President, stated that her team has coordinated with cellular operator companies to restore communication channels. Generally, the installation of signal transmission towers (BTS) affected by the disaster belongs to the companies.

"Therefore, we request that they continue to monitor and promptly make improvements. Most importantly, they should also inform the public about which areas are affected," said Meutya.

The ministry has also communicated several disaster locations through the Ministry of Communication and Information's website. Nevertheless, it has requested that cellular operator companies also proactively provide similar information to the public. This way, residents can anticipate various disruptions if they occur.

In recent days, flash floods and landslides have been reported to have struck 11 districts/cities in North Sumatra and 14 districts/cities in Aceh. As a result of these events, several areas have become isolated due to road access to the locations being cut off. Internet and telephone access has also not been restored.

In North Sumatra, preliminary reports as of Wednesday afternoon (November 26, 2025) indicate that 32 people have died as a result of the disaster. Road access to Central Tapanuli, South Tapanuli, and Sibolga City remains paralyzed. The three areas are reportedly isolated. Meanwhile, in Aceh, preliminary reports indicate at least five people have died and tens of thousands of residents have been affected by the disaster (Kompas, November 27, 2025).

The region that experienced the most severe disaster is the west coast of North Sumatra, including South Tapanuli with a preliminary report of 12 fatalities, Humbang Hasundutan with 7 fatalities, Central Tapanuli with 5 fatalities, and the city of Sibolga with 5 fatalities. Other areas in North Sumatra were also hit by flash floods, floods, and landslides, namely Pakpak Bharat with 2 fatalities, South Nias with 1 fatality, Mandailing Natal, North Tapanuli, Padang Sidimpuan, Nias, and Serdang Bedagai.

Flash floods and landslides occurred in 30 locations. Thousands of houses are also estimated to have sustained severe damage due to the flash floods and landslides.

Based on data collected by the Aceh Disaster Management Agency (BPBA), as of November 26, 2025, at 12:00 PM WIB, there were 46,893 individuals affected by flooding in seven districts/cities.

Of the total, 1,497 residents have been displaced. Most of the incidents are still triggered by heavy rainfall, strong winds, and unstable geological conditions that result in land movement and landslides. Meanwhile, five other regions are still working to gather their data.