From late November 2025, extreme rainfall combined with Cyclone Senyar brought days of intense downpours to Indonesia’s Sumatra Island. Flash floods and landslides followed, with the Aceh Special Region, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra among the worst hit.

Tzu Chi volunteers based in Sumatra, Medan, quickly launched an emergency response. While distributing basic supplies, they also moved to support largescale cleanup and began planning permanent housing together with the government.

Heavy machinery opens the way to recovery

The floods in Sumatra claimed more than a thousand lives. On November 30, Tzu Chi Indonesia began a public fundraising campaign. On that same day and on December 1, two batches of relief supplies were transported to North Sumatra through cooperation with the Ministry of Defense.

In Aceh, one of the worst hit areas, streets were clogged with debris and thick mud. Cars were piled up along the roadside “like stacking blocks.” Shops that had been flooded remained shut behind layers of sludge.

On December 13, heavy machinery was deployed to Aceh to clear streets and remove large volumes of water damaged waste. For residents who only had shovels and bare hands, this accelerated work they could not have completed alone in a short time.

Medan volunteer Shu-Tjeng (楊樹清) explained: “Only when the streets are cleaned up can the shop owners start cleaning their own stores. The flood severely inundated their businesses. Only after cleaning can they reopen and the city’s economy start to move again.”

Free clinic in Aceh Tamiang: treating illness after the water

The physical and emotional strain following the flood soon presented in people’s health. On December 21, volunteers held a free clinic in Landuh Village, Rantau, in Aceh Tamiang Regency. Seventeen volunteers and eleven medical professionals joined the effort, treating more than 200 villagers. In addition, 400 sets of food—hot meals, bottled water, biscuits, and milk—were handed out.

Dr. Suvi Novida, who coordinated the medical team, said the disaster area lacked clean water. Combined with layers of mud, this allowed acute respiratory infections and skin diseases to spread quickly.

We not only distribute medicine. We even have to carry out minor surgery on site for residents whose wounds are already infected because they were cut by sharp objects in the floodwater.— Dr. Suvi Novida

Twelve-year-old Rahela came to the clinic with a fever, cough, and flu. Her family's home was almost completely destroyed, leaving them lacking in clothes, food, and safe drinking water.

From the third day after the flood, we started getting sick—cough, fever, runny nose—but we could only endure it. Today we finally received help. I’m really happy. — Rahela

Rahela helps her family dig out of the mud

After the water receded, Rahela helped her father clear mud that reached up to her waist.

When the flood came, our whole family, including my three-month-old baby brother, evacuated to my grandma’s home. Today is the first day we’ve started cleaning our house. We have to clean it thoroughly, otherwise we won’t have a place to live.
— Rahela

Her father supports his wife and three children through casual day labor. He gladly accepted the aid delivered by volunteers, seeing it as a much-needed boost as they begin again.‑needed boost as they begin again.

Another patient, Sulaemi, shared her relief after being treated: she thanked the team for free medical care, hoped for a quick recovery, and wished good health to everyone who had helped her.

For residents who had endured days of dirty water, mud, and illness, the clinic and food distribution brought not only medicine and hot meals, but also reassurance that their community had not been forgotten.

First groundbreaking for permanent homes in North Sumatra

In many parts of Sumatra, the floods left people with no homes to return to. Tzu Chi Indonesia and the government have therefore launched a joint plan to build 2,500 permanent houses for affected families in the three provinces.

During an online coordination meeting on January 2, 2026, Tzu Chi’s North Sumatra coordinator Mujianto (鄭祥南) reported that from December 13, staff from Jakarta and contracted builders traveled to the disaster areas to join local volunteers. Together with government officers, they inspected multiple sites where permanent Great Love Homes could be built.

After days of surveys and evaluation, the team confirmed North Sumatra's plans for:
• 118 houses in Central Tapanuli Regency
• 227 houses in South Tapanuli Regency
• 200 houses in Sibolga City
• 103 houses in North Tapanuli Regency (to be built by the government)

In total, 648 permanent homes are planned in North Sumatra. On December 21, in Balong Bunian Village, Sibolga, volunteers, government officials, and representatives of flood-affected families came together for a groundbreaking ceremony, marking the beginning of construction there.

Each house will be about 36 square meters, with one living area, one bathroom, two bedrooms, and a kitchen—basic but complete, designed to give families a stable and dignified place to restart their lives.

Carefully choosing safe land in West Sumatra

While work moves ahead in North Sumatra, planning continues in West Sumatra to identify safe, suitable land for new “Great Love Villages.”

Deputy CEO of Tzu Chi Indonesia, Sugianto Kusuma (郭再源), reported on the situation in Padang. On December 17, Tzu Chi Padang main contact, Widya Kasuma Lawrenzi (劉炯輝), met with West Sumatra Vice Governor Vasco Reselmy to discuss permanent housing cooperation.

On December 19, volunteers and the mayor of Padang Panjang inspected three locations together:
• Gumarang Palembayan, Nagari Tigo Koto, in Agam Regency – approx. 1.8 hectares
• Rambatan, Tanah Datar Regency – approx. 2 hectares
• Tanah Hitam in Padang Panjang City – approx. 0.27 hectares

On December 22, Liu and local officials surveyed another candidate site: Bumi Perkemahan Air Dingin (“Cold Water Camp”), about 2.9 hectares. The camp already has a mosque, pavilions, and toilets, infrastructure that future residents will be able to use.

Padang Panjang’s mayor explained that the permanent housing plan “brings us hope.” With the city budget in deficit, the municipal government cannot shoulder such construction alone. Under the current plan, 500 houses in West Sumatra will be built with Tzu Chi’s support, taking into account surrounding facilities so that residents have access to services and livelihoods.

To ensure that new settlements are safe, the government is expediting legal review and technical assessments of all candidate sites while keeping emergency assistance ongoing. Together, the government and Tzu Chi Indonesia aim to provide a total of 2,500 homes: 1,000 homes in Aceh Special Region, 1,000 homes in North Sumatra Province, and 500 homes in West Sumatra Province.

Reflecting on the past while moving forward

Tzu Chi Indonesia CEO Su-Mei Liu (劉素美) noted that this disaster has struck many of the same regions that suffered in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Back then, the northern parts of North Sumatra were devastated on one side of the province; now, the 2025 floods have severely affected areas on the other side, closer to Malaysia.

During the video call, Master Cheng Yen reflected that more than twenty years have passed since the tsunami, yet disasters today strike with even greater force. She expressed appreciation that Indonesian volunteers could mobilize so swiftly, reaching many families with relief in a very short time.

At the same time, she reminded everyone that the suffering behind these events cannot be captured in a few sentences. She invited Tzu Chi volunteers in Indonesia to return to Taiwan, when possible, to share in detail how they are working with local communities to ease hardship and build safer futures.

Written by Hsiang-Hui Huang (黃湘卉)

Translated by Mindy Chen (陳敏理)