Sumatra Flood Death Toll Rises to 962, Aceh Remains Worst-Hit as Government Ramps Up Aid and Relocation Plans

JAKARTA, Investortrust.id — The death toll from the devastating floods and landslides across Sumatra has climbed to 962 people as of Tuesday, Dec 9, 2025, with 291 still missing and around 5,000 injured. Updated data from the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) show damage spread across 52 regencies and cities in three provinces—Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra—along with extensive destruction of homes and public infrastructure.

BNPB’s latest dashboard recorded 157,800 houses damaged across the three provinces. Aceh remained the hardest-hit region, with 389 fatalities, 62 people missing, about 4,300 injured, and 138,500 homes damaged in 18 regencies and cities. North Sumatra reported 338 deaths, 136 missing, and 650 injured with 11,200 homes damaged, while West Sumatra saw 235 deaths, 93 missing, 113 injured and 8,100 homes damaged.

The impact on public facilities was also severe. Across Sumatra, 1,200 public facilities were damaged, including 425 houses of worship, 199 health facilities, 234 government and office buildings, 534 schools and other educational facilities, and 497 bridges. Again, Aceh bore the brunt of the damage, with 585 public facilities, 201 houses of worship, 126 health facilities, 205 government buildings, 258 education facilities, and 312 bridges damaged. West Sumatra followed with 493 public facilities and 205 houses of worship damaged, while North Sumatra reported 80 public facilities and 19 houses of worship affected.

At the sub-provincial level, Agam in West Sumatra and Aceh Utara in Aceh recorded the highest death tolls at 180 and 138 respectively. In North Sumatra, Tapanuli Tengah was the worst-affected district with 110 deaths, followed by Tapanuli Selatan with 85 deaths and Kota Sibolga with 53.

Aceh also remained the epicenter of displacement. Government data and Social Affairs Ministry figures showed hundreds of thousands of residents forced from their homes. The Social Affairs Ministry (Kemensos) identified Aceh as having “the biggest impact,” with around 747,000 evacuees spread across the province.

Emergency Kitchens and Social Support

Social Affairs Minister Saifullah Yusuf, known as Gus Ipul, reported that Kemensos had mobilized large-scale logistical support and field kitchens to sustain evacuees in the three provinces. “Our support is logistics stored in provincial warehouses, at the provincial and district social affairs offices,” he told President Prabowo Subianto in a coordination meeting on the Sumatra disaster response in Aceh on Sunday.

Kemensos has set up 39 public kitchens across Aceh, West Sumatra, and North Sumatra, producing a combined 417,749 portions of ready-to-eat meals per day. Of that total, 21 kitchens in Aceh alone are supplying around 109,178 portions daily to camps and evacuation centers.

The ministry also prepared cash compensation for victims. “We will provide compensation for those who have died and support for those who are seriously injured. For those who died, the amount is Rp15 million, and for the seriously injured, Rp5 million,” Gus Ipul said. He added that Kemensos would work with provincial and local governments to conduct assessments and design livelihood recovery programs. “The results will be followed up with empowerment support according to each family’s needs,” he said.

Telecoms Recovery Still Uneven, Aceh Held Back by Power Outages

Restoration of telecommunication services across the disaster zone has progressed, but Aceh continued to lag because of widespread power outages. Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs Meutya Viada Hafid told lawmakers that network recovery in Sumatra had exceeded 90% in general.

She said only 5.74% of base transceiver stations (BTS) in North Sumatra and 2.81% in West Sumatra remained down. “The situation is different in Aceh, where BTS recovery is only around 60.72% because of power issues,” Meutya explained during a working meeting with Commission I of the House of Representatives in Jakarta on Monday. “This is due to electricity. Once power is restored, we believe the recovery rate can rise to around 75%,” she added.

For BTS operated under the Bakti Kominfo universal service program, 602 sites were affected by the disaster, and 413 had been brought back online—again with most of the remaining problems concentrated in Aceh. “We still need to work harder, especially with PLN, because without electricity the BTS cannot operate properly,” Meutya said.

To close connectivity gaps, the government has also turned to satellite technology. The Satria-1 satellite is now providing links at 17 locations, while Starlink, coordinated by the ministry, has been activated at 91 sites across the affected regions.

Housing and Land: HGU Revocation on the Table for Relocation

While emergency aid and connectivity restoration continue, the government is preparing for the more complex phase of relocation and housing reconstruction. Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/Head of the National Land Agency (ATR/BPN) Nusron Wahid said the government was ready to revoke plantation and commercial land concessions if necessary to provide space for resettling flood and landslide victims.

“If people need permanent housing and no land is available, we will request land from concession holders and state land currently under HGU in those cities. We will provide it, there will be no problem,” Nusron said on Monday, emphasizing that ATR/BPN would coordinate with BNPB and local governments.

His remarks followed President Prabowo’s directive in a coordination meeting in Aceh, where the president stressed that the availability of land for temporary housing (huntara) had become a key bottleneck. Regional heads were instructed to immediately identify and provide land, while central government agencies—especially ATR/BPN and the Forestry Ministry—were ordered to work with provinces and districts to find solutions.

“I believe the land must be there. There has to be coordination between district governments, provincial governments, the central government, and all ministries and agencies—especially ATR and Forestry—to check everything,” Prabowo said, before underlining that public interest overrides concession rights. “If necessary, HGU can be temporarily revoked or reduced. This is about the people’s interests. Land must be available.”

BNPB chief Suharyanto explained that huntara units are being designed as more dignified shelters compared with tents. Each unit will serve one family. “The size is type 36, eight by five meters. Rather than living in tents, it is more representative for them to stay in temporary housing,” he said, adding that each unit is expected to cost around Rp30 million and would include basic facilities. “There is a toilet and bathroom ready within each unit,” Suharyanto told the president.

Under the current concept, huntara are intended to be used for up to one year before survivors move into permanent housing. However, this period could be extended if land acquisition for permanent resettlement is delayed.

Long Road to Recovery

With nearly a thousand lives lost, hundreds still missing, and close to 160,000 homes damaged, the floods and landslides in Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra now rank among the most destructive disasters in recent years. The combination of emergency kitchens, telecoms restoration, and aggressive land and housing policies shows that the government is shifting from immediate rescue toward stabilization and long-term recovery.

Still, challenges remain, especially in Aceh where power infrastructure, roads, and bridges were heavily damaged and many villages remain difficult to reach. As assessments continue and more detailed data emerge from the 52 affected regencies and cities, both the humanitarian response and reconstruction plans are expected to evolve further in the weeks ahead.