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View all search resultsAceh flood survivors remain in tents six months after disaster
While hundreds of survivors of deadly floods and landslides in Aceh Tamiang have relocated to temporary housing sites, dozens others opt to stay in tents due to the poor condition of their provisional shelters
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Two women hang out near emergency tents in Lubuk Sidup village, Aceh Tamiang regency, Aceh on May 11, 2026, where dozens of survivors of the deadly cyclone-induced flooding and landslides in northern Sumatra continue to live. (JP/Gembong Hanung)
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t has been nearly six months since Rubiyah, 65, watched her home in Lubuk Sidup village, Aceh Tamiang regency, Aceh, being swept away by floodwaters and mudslides triggered by Cyclone Senyar. But the trauma of the disaster still creeps up whenever rain falls and wind shakes the small tent she has been living in since the disaster hit.
“I just want a safer place to live. One that is free from floods,” Rubiyah told The Jakarta Post on May 11 inside a tent in Lubuk Sidup.
Rubiyah is one of dozens of residents across Aceh Tamiang who lost their homes and livelihoods to the cyclone-induced floods and landslides that hit northern Sumatra last November, but have yet to recover from their prolonged economic and social impacts.
Many survivors across Aceh Tamiang, which was among the worst-hit areas during the 2025 disasters, have relocated to a temporary housing complex provided by the government under state asset fund Danantara.
However, Rubiyah and several others decided to return to the tents after staying for a few days in a temporary house because of its poor condition: “The roof leaked during heavy rainfall, causing water to pour all over the floor.”
Some villagers, like Muhammad Yunan and his wife, opted to endure the conditions because they had nowhere else to go.
“We couldn’t even find any trace of our home. Not a single stick was left,” Yunan, 64, said at the housing complex located on the edge of Lubuk Sidup.
