December 8, 2025 | 03:02 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Tree trunks and mud came roaring in like waves, smashing into the home of Nasra Lubis in Garoga village, Batangtoru subdistrict, South Tapanuli Regency, North Sumatra. From her motorbike at dawn on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, Nasra watched her house collapse, leaving behind only the corrugated aluminum roof.
Before the flash flood hit, Nasra and her husband, Ashari Hasibuan, managed to escape. Ashari sped his motorbike toward higher ground. They are now sheltering in Anggoli village, Sibabangun subdistrict, about a kilometer away from their home. “The water swallowed everything in its path,” Nasra told Tempo on Thursday, December 4.
A few minutes before reaching the evacuation post, they crossed the Garoga village bridge. Like Nasra’s house, the only bridge connecting the village had collapsed under the surge of water, carrying logs and mud. “We might not have survived if we were late crossing,” the 45-year-old woman said.
Floods and landslides tore through parts of West Sumatra, North Sumatra, and Aceh in late November. The disaster was triggered by several factors, including heavy rainfall intensified by Tropical Cyclone Senyar near the equator.
But Arie Rompas, Head of Greenpeace Indonesia’s Forest Campaign, said the floods and landslides in Sumatra were also caused by human activity. He argued that heavy rainfall was made worse by deforestation in upstream areas. “Other countries hit by tropical cyclones also face floods, but their waters don’t carry felled logs,” Arie said.
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