North Aceh Regent Curhat: 25 Districts are Submerged, We are Like Invisible Center

North Aceh Regent Ismail A. Jalil. (Screen capture)

BANDA ACEH - North Aceh Regent Ismail A. Jalil conveyed his complaints regarding the impact of the massive flood in his area which was considered to have received less attention from the central government. He said that North Aceh seemed invisible because the disaster occurred when electricity and communication signals were paralyzed, so it was not viral.

The statement was made by Ismail at a meeting of the Indonesian Parliament's Post-Disaster Recovery Task Force in Banda Aceh, as seen on the Parliament TV YouTube, Tuesday (30/12/2025).

Ismail reported that of the 27 sub-districts in North Aceh, 25 sub-districts or about 81 percent of the affected area, covering 696 gampongs. The number of affected residents reached around 124 thousand people. Meanwhile, around 19,000 families had to be displaced, with an estimated number of souls around 60 thousand people.

He also conveyed the data on victims, namely 213 people died, 6 people were missing, and about 2,000 people were injured. The vulnerable groups affected include about 1,400 pregnant women, about 9,500 toddlers, about 6,800 elderly, and about 500 people with disabilities.

The impact of the damage was reported to be very widespread. A total of 72,364 houses were submerged, 3,506 houses were lost, and 6,236 houses were severely damaged. In addition, it was recorded that about 16,300 houses were moderately damaged and about 20,280 houses were lightly damaged. In the agricultural sector, about 14,500 hectares of rice fields were submerged, with an additional 10,600 hectares affected.

Ismail said the refugee situation was still difficult. Electricity and telecommunications networks are not yet fully normal. Urgent needs include 5 kilogram LPG gas, logistics and medicines, decent tents, boats for logistics distribution to isolated areas such as Serah Raja and Dusun Selemak, clean water, and heavy equipment.

"In North Aceh, the signal is dead, the electricity is off. Houses are washed away, places of worship are washed away, people are washed away. We can only see from the roof of the meunasah," said Ismail. He admitted that he had begged while crying for a plane to send logistics to isolated areas.

Ismail even said that the impact of the flood in North Aceh was wider than the tsunami, because the damage occurred from upstream to downstream. "One village can appear five to seven new estuaries. Houses are lost. But the center is like closing its eyes because it is not viral," he said.