No Areas in Sumatra Remain Isolated After Severe Floods, Says Basarnas

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) announced that there are no longer any isolated areas following the flash floods and landslides that struck Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra.

Basarnas Chief Air Marshal Mohammad Syafii said the agency has stopped receiving reports of cut-off communities in the three provinces.

“The isolated areas have essentially been opened. If any remained, we would still be getting reports. At the moment, there are none,” Syafii told reporters at the House of Representatives complex in Jakarta on Tuesday, December 2, 2025.

He noted that locations with disrupted road access can still be reached by air or sea. Whether an area is deemed isolated, he added, depends on reports from the ground.

“For Basarnas, there is no such thing as an unreachable area. We can access them either by aircraft or by sea,” he said.

Syafii explained that an area is considered isolated when land routes are severed and electricity and telecommunications are down.

Floods and landslides have battered parts of Sumatra since last week. According to the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), as of December 2, some 3.2 million people have been severely affected, with 1.1 million displaced. The death toll has climbed to 659, while 475 people remain missing.

Public Works Minister Dody Hanggodo said the government is accelerating efforts to reopen access to the hardest-hit regions. Heavy machinery has been deployed from neighboring provinces unaffected by the disaster, including Riau, Jambi, and Bengkulu.

“Our main priority is restoring connectivity to areas that remain cut off,” Dody said.

He added that joint teams continue clearing landslide debris and thick mud from main roads. While he did not specify which locations are still inaccessible, he assured that efforts to reopen all transport links are progressing daily.