Two Emergency Bridges in Agam Flooded by River Flow

Heavy equipment installing an emergency bridge that was previously carried by the river in Subarang Aia, Nagari Salareh Aia Timur, Palembayan District, Agam Regency, Thursday (12/2/2026). ANTARA/HO-Wali Jorong Sumbarang Aia.

JAKARTA - The Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Agam Regency, West Sumatra (Sumbar) stated that two emergency bridges in Palembayan District were washed away by the Batang Nanggang River due to heavy rainfall on Wednesday (11/2) night.

"Two emergency bridges built from coconut trees were carried away by the river," said Head of the Agam BPBD Implementation Office Rahmat Lasmono in Lubuk Basung, Thursday, February 12, reported by ANTARA.

He said the two bridges were in the Syuhada Mosque which connects Sawah Laweh-Kampuang Pili, Nagari Salareh Aia Timur, Palembayan District. Then it was crossed by Subarang Aia, Nagari Salareh Aia Timur, which connects Koto Alam-Subarang Aia.

"The emergency bridge was built to facilitate access for residents after the flash flood disaster hit the area at the end of November 2025," he said.

He added that the flood also overflowed the provincial road connecting Padang Koto Gadang to Bukittinggi to a height of 50 centimeters.

Flooding and landslides occurred in Tanjung Raya District, resulting in 170 families being displaced to schools, mosques, family homes, and neighboring houses.

A total of 170 households with a population of hundreds of people who were displaced were spread across Koto Kaciak Village with 90 households and Sungai Batang Village with 50 households because their houses were submerged in floods of about 40-60 centimeters, due to the overflowing of the Asam River and the Tumayo River after heavy rainfall.

Currently, the flood conditions have shrunk and residents have begun to clean their houses from flood materials.

After that, in Jorong Lubuak Sao, Nagari Dalko, Tanjung Raya District, there were 30 households displaced due to landslides.

"They were evacuated by a joint team from the Agam BPBD, Agam Police, PMI, Basarnas, sub-district government, nagari government and residents," he said.

He added that the landslide material also contributed to the electric pole, so that the lights went out around the location.

The landslide material buried a minibus. Meanwhile, the driver and one passenger managed to save themselves independently before the incident.

The landslide material covered the provincial road connecting Lubuk Basung-Bukittinggi, specifically in Jorong Lubuak Sao, Nagari Dalko, Tanjung Raya District, which covered the road with a length of about 50 meters and a height of about 1.5 meters.

"The cleaning of the landslide material is underway by deploying heavy equipment," he said.

The heavy rainfall also caused the overflowing of the Batang Balok River, after the temporary dam was broken due to the overflow of the river in Jorong Bancah, Nagari Maninjau, Tanjung Raya District, so that the water overflowed into the Maninjau road to the Batang River and flooded SDN 09 Bancah.

The community has tried to manually install the dam at the point where it was broken by piling up stone and wood materials so that the flow of water remains in the river.

The flood also submerged two houses in Siguhuang, Nagari Lubuk Basung, Lubuk Basung District, due to the overflowing of the Batang Siguhuang River.

Meanwhile, the Head of Jorong or Subarang Aia Village, Irlan, added that residents were isolated because the bridge was carried away by the current, because the bridge was the only access from Subarang Aia to Koto Alam.

"The emergency bridge is the only access for residents to bring agricultural and plantation products and to school. At the location, the National Police is building a Bailey bridge," he said.

Previously, Palembayan District was hit by flash floods, resulting in 146 people dying, 32 people missing, damaging hundreds of houses, agricultural land, and others.