Aceh Singkil District Head Safriadi Oyon said local authorities, supported by the military and police, are working to reopen road access, deliver aid and repair damaged infrastructure.
Several major routes remain cut off due to damage to the bridge and surrounding roads, forcing aid distribution to rely on rubber boats and motorized canoes.
Safriadi urged the central government to resume construction of a flood-control embankment and restore damaged infrastructure, including the bridge and access roads to landslide-hit areas.
He said the region faces annual flooding worsened by land subsidence following the Aceh–Nias earthquake.
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Safriadi welcomed the Vice President’s directives, saying they confirm central government support for accelerating recovery efforts and rebuilding critical infrastructure.
The most urgent needs, he said, are clean water, logistics, restored access routes, and continuation of the embankment project.
After the bridge inspection, Gibran traveled to Syekh Hamzah Fansyuri Airport before departing for Soewondo Air Force Base in Medan, North Sumatra.
At the base, he inspected a logistics warehouse to ensure aid supplies for disaster-hit areas in northern Sumatra were ready for immediate deployment.
He also reviewed infrastructure conditions and received technical reports from local authorities and disaster-response teams.
According to gathered information, only two small canoes remain available to ferry residents across the river after the bridge collapsed, effectively cutting off access.
The vice president also received a report from Safriadi on the cause of the flooding and landslides, triggered by extreme rainfall that began on November 19, 2025.
Safriadi described the disaster as unprecedented, calling it the worst flooding event in two centuries.
The floods struck at least nine sub-districts and 67 villages in Aceh Singkil, severely damaging homes and infrastructure and forcing hundreds of residents to evacuate before conditions gradually began to improve.
Related news: Sumatra floods: Gibran consoles survivors, gathers input in Agam
Translator: Mentari Dwi Gayati, Primayanti
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2025
