Cyclone Senyar leaves mother-of-four widowed in West Sumatra

TANAH DATAR, Sumatra – Ms Ratnawati, a homemaker and mother of four, became a widow after Tropical Cyclone Senyar tore across Indonesia’s Sumatra island in late November.

The storm unleashed a galodo – a flash flood in the Minangkabau language – that triggered landslides, tearing through villages and sweeping away uprooted trees, motorcycles and parts of roads.

The 32-year-old lived with her husband, 38-year-old waiter Reki Saputra, and their four young children near a riverbank in the path of the flood. They fled to higher ground when an evacuation alert was issued on Nov 26.

Believing the danger had passed, Mr Reki and several neighbours returned to their homes later on the same day to retrieve their belongings. He was trapped for four hours by a sudden landslide but was rescued.

When he went home again the next day, he was not so lucky. Rescuers later found his body.

“My last contact (with him) was that morning. He said he wanted to return to charge his mobile phone, take a nap as he had not slept the previous night, and retrieve our motorcycles,” Ms Ratnawati told The Straits Times.

“He was a very responsible husband. He gave me all his weekly income from his job as a waiter, including his annual bonus.”

Overwhelmed by shock and grief, she collapsed repeatedly until aid workers moved her and her children to a rented house nearby where she could get medical care.

“Please take care of our children, keep them safe. That was his last wish,” she said.

Ms Ratnawati does not yet know how she will manage alone with her children. “Now I have to find a job. As a mother, I must stay strong and survive to care for them,” she said.

Tanah Datar, a regency in West Sumatra, is one of the areas in Indonesia still reeling from the impact of the cyclone. As at Dec 7, the official death toll across Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra stood at 916, with 274 still missing and more than 4,200 injured. Thousands remain stranded, struggling for food, clean water and medical care.

The disaster also caused damage to 105,900 houses, 1,300 public facilities, 199 health facilities, 697 educational facilities, 420 places of worship, 234 offices and 405 bridges, according to official data.

Outside Ms Ratnawati’s rented house in Tanah Datar, the devastation stretched for kilometres. The heartland of Minangkabau has become a maze of collapsed homes and severed bridges.

Almost overnight, parts of Tanah Datar – long celebrated in travel documentaries and food programmes, including a 2020 visit by celebrity British chef Gordon Ramsay to learn to cook rendang from chef William Wongso – had been reduced to rubble.

The disaster has destroyed key tourist sites and vital transport routes.

The Lembah Anai corridor – a national highway famed for its view of a 35m waterfall, the twin bridges and remnants of a Dutch-era cog railway – has been split into two. The road, a crucial artery for goods, logistics and trade, connects the northern regions of West Sumatra with Padang, the provincial capital.

Many residents of Padang Panjang, a city heavily reliant on tourism, commute daily to Padang. They are now cut off while repairs are under way.

“It is currently dangerous to cross to Padang. We have told residents to be patient and not take unnecessary risks by forcing their way across the slippery and narrow path or by riding their motorcycles over these damaged sections,” its mayor Hendri Anis told ST.

Emergency teams are racing to reopen roads, build temporary bridges and restore communications. Aid is reaching the region, but major repairs could take months.

Padang Panjang police chief Kartyana Widyarso Wardoyoputro told ST: “Look there. This area used to be full of coffee shops where people would shelter from heavy rains. But the landslide swept them away. It is a hilly region and when rain hits these slopes, the soil gives way.”

Tanah Datar regent Eka Putra said in a televised broadcast on Dec 5 that the local government had been operating under severe constraints after the floods.

“We still have three villages that are completely isolated. We are sending food by rope and by boat because no road can reach them,” he said. “All access to Tanah Datar was cut, so we depended entirely on what we had on the ground. The scale of destruction is something we have never faced.”

Survivors recounted harrowing escapes, some racing to higher ground with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Many heeded early evacuation warnings while others, like Ms Nelia Sabrina, 48, waited until the last moments.

“I have lost a lot of things and did not manage to save any of my valuables, but I am thankful that all my family members are safe,” she said.

Some residents have returned to their relatives’ homes while others remain in shelters, trying to come to terms with lost livelihoods.

Ms Yusri Agnestisoekra, 33, a snack seller, said she is thankful to have enough to eat for now but worries about rebuilding her life.

“We need to earn money after we get out of here. People will definitely not go to the waterfall for a long while. We need to find other jobs,” she said.

Foreign aid declined

In

Aceh Tamiang, one of the hardest-hit districts

, the acrid smell of decomposing bodies hung heavy in the air, according to local reports. Roads remained blocked and mounds of debris made it nearly impossible for volunteers to reach isolated villages.

“Many people need basic necessities. Many areas remain untouched in the remote areas of Aceh,” Aceh governor Muzakir Manaf was quoted as saying by The Jakarta Post. “People are not dying from the flood but from starvation.”

Health Ministry teams have been deployed to monitor post-flood diseases and prevent larger outbreaks. In Tanah Datar and four other regencies in West Sumatra, 376 people reported fevers between Nov 25 and 29,

as typhoid, skin infections and respiratory illnesses spread

among survivors.

Local officials in Sumatra have

urged Jakarta to declare a national emergency,

citing the need for additional funds to bolster rescue and relief operations. President Prabowo Subianto, however, insisted that the situation was improving and that existing arrangements were sufficient following his Dec 1 visit to the devastated provinces.

Mr Prabowo made a second visit, landing in Aceh province on Dec 7. He promised that food supplies in Aceh would remain stable and said the government would accelerate repairs to damaged roads and bridges.

Farmers’ KUR loans would be written off, he added, describing the destruction as the result of an unavoidable natural disaster. KUR, short for Kredit Usaha Rakyat, is a government-backed microcredit programme that provides low-interest loans to small businesses and farmers.

“We will send food from other places. Reserves are still quite plentiful. As for the KUR debts, because this is a natural disaster, we will cancel them and farmers do not need to worry,” he said.

Jakarta has declined offers of international assistance, including support from the UN. Foreign Minister Sugiono told reporters on Dec 5: “We express our gratitude for the attention, but we are managing everything that needs to be handled. Though several countries have offered assistance, we are not accepting help for now.”

Malaysia dispatched medicine and two tonnes of medical equipment on Nov 29 via cargo plane from Kuala Lumpur, coordinating with the local Indonesian authorities and private groups Gomez Medical Services and Blue Sky Rescue Malaysia.

Governor Manaf has brought in a five-member team from China to help locate the bodies of flash flood victims in Aceh who are believed to still be buried under mud.

“They have tools to detect bodies in the mud. This is very helpful,” he said on Dec 6. “The mud reaches up to the waist, so they have equipment that can help us.”

In an Instagram video post on Dec 6 viewed more than one million times, former deputy foreign minister Dino Patti Djalal urged the government to treat the Sumatra flash floods and landslides as a national disaster.

“There must be full attention from the government for disaster management over the next one or two months. Make this also a moment for our nation to unite in grief and solidarity,” he said.

His comments come amid public anger over Jakarta’s cautious response and refusal of international aid. Drawing on his experience during the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami in Aceh, Dr Dino framed his advice as practical guidance rather than criticism, calling for strong leadership, clear coordination and reliable communication.

He warned that early casualty reports are often misleading; secondary crises such as diseases can follow and ministers should prioritise oversight over appearances. He also emphasised the urgent need for domestic funding for rehabilitation, given limited international aid.

Forestry clampdown 

Environmental analysts say the devastation reflects decades of deforestation, weak land management and governance gaps that have left Sumatra highly vulnerable to extreme weather.

The Indonesian government has launched an investigation into chainsaw operations and corporate permits that may have worsened the disaster. Indonesia’s Forestry Ministry and the National Police have formed a joint task force to trace timber swept away by floods in several districts.

“The task force will trace the timber’s origin. If criminal activity is detected, we will pursue strict legal action,” Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni said at a parliamentary hearing on Dec 4.

The authorities have also identified several companies that may have contributed to the flooding. Around 20 firms, covering roughly 750,000ha of forested areas, could face permit revocations, while another 12 companies are under scrutiny and their executives will be summoned, he said.

Facing public pressure, Mr Antoni said he would step down if President Prabowo judged him unable to protect Sumatra’s forests, which experts say have been heavily degraded by land exploitation.

“That is the President’s prerogative and I am ready to be evaluated… My responsibility is simply to work as hard as I can,” he told reporters.

In Tanah Datar, residents brace themselves for more storms, knowing repairs to roads and bridges could take weeks or months. Families wait in shelters, uncertain when, or if, they can return home. 

Ms Fitria Diana, 45, and her husband, who are both vegetable farmers, fled to the shelter two days before the flash flood. “We do not dare go home yet. We are still traumatised and the rains have not stopped. Our crops were completely destroyed. Months of work gone in an instant,” she said, her voice breaking.

Around them, the mud and debris of their fields and homes lie silent – a stark reminder that life in Tanah Datar will not simply resume but must be rebuilt from the ground up.