In the wake of devastating floods and landslides across North Sumatra, Aceh, and West Sumatra, a groundswell of citizen-led initiatives has emerged, stepping up to provide crucial aid to victims.
This widespread movement is, in part, fueled by growing frustration over what many perceive as a slow and inadequate government response to the humanitarian crisis.
Volunteer groups are mobilizing through diverse efforts, ranging from reuniting families separated by the disaster and distributing essential supplies like rice, to evacuating survivors and spearheading fundraising campaigns to channel resources directly to affected areas.
Two weeks have passed since the catastrophic floods and landslides struck Sumatra in late November, yet numerous regions continue to grapple with a severe lack of assistance. Appeals to declare the situation a national disaster have gone unheeded, with the government instead asserting that its handling of the crisis is already operating on a national scale.
Data from the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) on Friday evening, December 5, painted a grim picture: 867 fatalities, 521 individuals still missing, and a staggering 4,200 injured. Amidst these dire circumstances, BBC News Indonesia spotlights the remarkable efforts of ordinary citizens helping their fellow community members.
Aceh Tengah: ‘Connecting separated families’
In Aceh, three dedicated communities—Titik Tengah, Kelas Campuran, and Festival Panen Kopi—have coalesced into a volunteer force, establishing a humanitarian post for disaster victims in Aceh Tengah.
Romex Sibroo, one of the volunteers, reported that for over ten days post-disaster, nearly all land routes leading to Takengon, the capital of Aceh Tengah, remained cut off. Only one road, from Pidie Jaya to Aceh Tengah, along with air access, had been reopened. Romex noted that travel from Takengon to surrounding small villages was solely possible on foot.
This severe isolation, he explained, has drastically limited the flow of aid. “I hear that residents in remote villages are drinking water from rice fields and stagnant puddles. That’s the condition here right now,” Romex lamented.
According to BNPB data from December 5, Aceh Tengah recorded 22 deaths, 23 missing persons, and 37 injured. While the government reportedly dispatched four waves of aid to Aceh Tengah via Rembele Airport in the neighboring Bener Meriah regency—including 13 tons of rice on December 1, and 150 kilograms of rice and 30 boxes of ready-to-eat meals via helicopter to Bintang District the following day—Romex maintains that the total assistance remains woefully insufficient.
“I don’t even understand what to expect from the government, because they don’t seem to grasp their own movements. It feels like they’re just sitting around,” he expressed, clearly frustrated.
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Despite the immense challenges, Romex and his fellow volunteers have been actively assisting communities. One crucial initiative involves connecting separated families through their social media platform, @titiktengahtxe. “Many friends outside are searching for lost relatives in Takengon, who can’t be reached because, even on the tenth day, electricity and fuel are completely cut off,” he explained.
Romex’s team navigates several locations by bicycle and on foot, diligently searching for those who have lost contact with their loved ones. “Currently, we can only help around the city [Takengon] and slightly outside, covering distances of up to 10-15 kilometers. We operate strictly from citizens for citizens, people helping people, humans for humans,” he shared emotionally.
As a result of their efforts, several families have been successfully reunited, with residents outside the city receiving news of their relatives in and around Takengon. Beyond this, the volunteers are also actively collecting donations and striving to deliver vital logistical aid to Takengon, though persistent access issues remain their greatest hurdle.
Previously, Aceh Tengah Regent Haili Yoga issued a letter acknowledging his inability to manage the disaster emergency in his region. Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian defended the situation, attributing it to inaccessible roads. “For example, in Takengon, Aceh Tengah stated that they are unable to provide services. Yes, they won’t be able to. It won’t be possible. Why? Because the access itself is closed,” Tito explained.
Sharing rice and offering rides
Another area severely impacted in Aceh is Aceh Tamiang. In this district, BNPB reported on Friday, December 5, that 70 people had died, 23 were missing, and 55 sustained injuries.
KompasTV journalist Budi Satria in Aceh Tamiang reported on Saifuddin, a restaurant owner, who selflessly distributed rice and other aid, such as bread and clean water, to residents for free. This remarkable act of generosity came despite Saifuddin’s own business in Kuala Simpang being completely destroyed by the floods.
The spirit of community helping community was also evident in the account of Rizki Syahputra, a resident of North Sumatra who was in Aceh Tamiang when the floods hit. Rizki recounted, “In Aceh Tamiang, from day one to day three, there was still food, both from vendors and from nearby residents. But from day four onwards, food supplies dwindled. By day seven, there was no food left, and finding drinking water was impossible.”
Rizki described the escalating tension, noting that looting had begun. He then made the decision to leave Aceh Tamiang. “We braved the floods in a river where the water was still over a meter high, and thankfully, we made it back to North Sumatra,” he said. Rizki’s journey to Medan took two days and one night, during which he offered rides to other residents also seeking to escape Aceh Tamiang, including a pregnant woman.
West Sumatra: Victims helping victims
In Palembayan District, Agam Regency, West Sumatra, some of the victims themselves could not succumb to despair. Instead, they immediately sprang into action, extending a helping hand to others in even greater need.
Agam Regency recorded the highest number of fatalities, reaching 156, with 187 individuals still missing, according to BNPB data from Friday, December 5.
Among these resilient individuals was Riko Putra Ardianto, who, alongside dozens of other residents, assisted in the arduous process of evacuating both trapped survivors and the deceased. “After the ‘galodo’ [flash flood] struck our area, I saw many people calling for help, and I, along with several other young men, tried to assist those who needed it,” Riko told journalist Halbert Chaniago, reporting for BBC News Indonesia.
Riko recounted carrying survivors to safer ground, approximately 500 meters from where the flash flood had last swept through. “I saved two people named Heru and Iseh, who are also residents here. Their condition was very severe, and I immediately carried them to a safe location,” he detailed. Riko and a dozen others also worked to retrieve bodies buried in the mud. “We pulled them from the mud and brought them to the initial evacuation point to be identified by their family members and properly buried,” he explained. Riko estimated that his team evacuated around 10 bodies, all of which were handed over to their respective families.
Ira Eka Putri, a midwife in Palembayan, also provided critical medical care to victims suffering injuries from the flash flood on Thursday, November 27. “At that moment, I heard shouts about a large surge of water coming, and I immediately headed to this place [SDN 05 Palembayan, an evacuation site] with my husband,” she recalled. “There was no electricity at the time. Many residents had injuries, and we immediately fetched medical supplies to treat them.” Ira still vividly remembers the types of injuries sustained by residents, ranging from minor abrasions to severe trauma like fractures and large lacerations. “To treat the residents, we only used whatever limited lighting we had, because the electricity had gone out instantly,” she added.
A similar dedication was shown by Andi Wijaya, a Basarnas Padang personnel member who was evacuating victims in Palembayan. Remarkably, Andi’s own wife and three children were also victims of the floods in Padang, forcing them to conduct a self-evacuation on Thursday. “My children and wife were victims of the flood and had to evacuate themselves last Thursday, while I was saving people in the Matur area,” Andi explained.
Andi shared that he received a tearful phone call on Friday, November 28, from his daughter, pleading with him to return home because they were struggling with a lack of clean water and food. Unable to hold back his own tears, Andi implored his daughter to cope, as he still had the urgent task of evacuating the bodies of flash flood victims in the Palembayan area. “My daughter even said that I could save others but couldn’t save my own family,” he recounted, highlighting the painful choices faced by many responders.
Donation drive 
A diverse group of content creators and comedians has also rallied to collect donations for disaster victims across Sumatra. Many of them have gone beyond fundraising, personally traveling to the disaster-stricken regions.
Rico Saptahadi, a content creator from Padang, launched a donation drive on his Instagram account on November 28. To date, Rico reports having raised approximately IDR 200 million. These funds are being channeled to assist victims, particularly in severely impacted areas like Palembayan, his hometown. “I acted because at that time, the government had not yet moved in Palembayan; there was no aid, just information in the media,” he stated.
At that critical time, residents in Palembayan were rapidly running out of food supplies. “The government was slow, if I may say so, truly very slow,” Rico emphasized. He then transferred the donated money to volunteers in Bukit Tinggi, who purchased food aid. “Sending aid is incredibly difficult; roads are cut off. From Bukittinggi, we use cars to the nearest accessible point. Then, the aid is transported on foot, picked up by motorbikes, and so on, until it reaches the specific points where residents need it,” he detailed, illustrating the logistical challenges.
Another content creator, Ferry Irwandi, has also spearheaded a significant donation campaign and personally visited the disaster sites. Through the Kitabisa.com platform, Ferry successfully raised an impressive IDR 10.3 billion from over 87,700 donors. He allocated a portion of these donations to purchase 2.6 tons of vital logistical aid, which was transported by a police aircraft to Kualanamu Airport on Thursday, December 4.
Ferry explained that the distributed aid includes basic necessities, nutritious ready-to-eat meals, baby and mother supplies, and hygiene products. The assistance is strategically prioritized for rural areas that still suffer from minimal supplies. “Today, one or two trucks have also entered Aceh Tamiang, but we are focusing on downstream areas like the villages. For urban areas, the information we received is that there’s already sufficient aid, so we are prioritizing the villages,” Ferry clarified. Beyond Aceh Tamiang, aid has also been delivered to Tualang Village in Langkat Regency, with supplies tailored to the specific needs gathered from local residents. “We are also working to ensure the availability of clean water by sourcing filtering devices so that clean water terminals are available at distribution points,” he added.
Ferry regularly shares updates on his Instagram account, documenting his journey delivering aid to various locations in Langkat, North Sumatra, and Aceh Tamiang.
Comedian Praz Teguh has also joined these humanitarian efforts. Through Kitabisa.com, Praz raised IDR 4.3 billion from 36,000 donations and personally traveled to the disaster zones to distribute aid.
Their remarkable efforts have garnered widespread praise from netizens, with comments such as:
- “Come on, guys, if not us, then who? People for People!!”
- “Victims helping victims, Ferry Irwandi has even reached remote areas. What about government aid?”
- “Awesome, I hope those who haven’t been reached yet can soon be touched by the volunteer teams. Get well soon, stay healthy, volunteers.”
Deputy National Police Chief Commissioner General Dedi Prasetyo commended the initiative of public figures who opened donation channels and personally visited disaster sites to deliver aid. According to Dedi, the active participation of the community in distributing logistical assistance to affected areas will significantly contribute to the recovery process.
Meanwhile, the government has refrained from declaring the floods in several areas of Sumatra as a national disaster. “The handling is already national,” stated Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Pratikno on Wednesday, December 3. Pratikno emphasized that President Prabowo Subianto had instructed all ministries and agencies, including the TNI/Polri (Indonesian National Armed Forces/Police) and the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), to deploy their resources to the fullest extent in managing the disaster in Sumatra. “So once again, the handling is truly a full national effort,” he reiterated.
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Summary
Amidst devastating floods and landslides across North Sumatra, Aceh, and West Sumatra, extensive citizen-led initiatives have emerged, providing crucial aid to victims. This groundswell of support is largely driven by frustration over what many perceive as a slow and inadequate government response to the humanitarian crisis. Volunteers are actively engaged in reuniting separated families, distributing essential supplies, evacuating survivors, and spearheading fundraising campaigns to channel resources directly to affected areas.
Examples include efforts in Aceh Tengah to connect separated families, a restaurant owner in Aceh Tamiang distributing free aid despite his own business being destroyed, and victims in West Sumatra assisting in evacuations. Content creators and comedians have also rallied, raising billions in donations and personally delivering supplies to remote areas. Despite these remarkable efforts and dire statistics of 867 fatalities and 521 missing by December 5, the government has maintained it will not declare a national disaster, asserting its handling is already a “full national effort.”