BPBD: Pidie Jaya Residents Return to Clean Houses After Repeated Floods

The Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) of Pidie Jaya Regency, Aceh, states that residents affected by the repeated flooding two days ago have returned to clean their respective homes of the mud brought by the floods. “The community has returned home and is cleaning their houses of mud again,” said Acting Head of BPBD Pidie Jaya, Okta Handipa, when contacted from Banda Aceh on Friday. On Wednesday night (8/4), several villages in Pidie Jaya were again hit by flooding due to heavy rain upstream of the Meureudu River, resulting in residential areas being inundated with water and mud once more. The flooding was caused by the collapse of a temporary embankment made from soil remnants of the initial November 2025 flood; due to the high water volume, it could not hold back the flow, and water flooded the settlements again. Subsequently, in Meurah Dua Sub-district, the affected villages include Meunasah Mancang, Meunasah Raya, Blang Cut, Dayah Usen, Pante Beureune, Gampong Blang, Meunasah Bie, Geunteng, and Meunasah Teungoh. Okta said that during the flooding, residents temporarily evacuated to safe places, either relatives’ homes or village mushala. However, after the water receded, they returned home to clean up. “They temporarily evacuated to higher ground. But they have returned home to clean, and tomorrow we will deploy heavy equipment to clean the village roads that are covered in mud,” he stated. Therefore, he hopes that the central government will promptly build a permanent embankment along the Meureudu River. If not addressed seriously, flooding will recur during heavy rains in the upstream areas. “We request the central government to immediately build a permanent embankment. Moreover, the residents’ drainage is clogged, and the Krueng Meureudu River is already shallow, so if there is heavy water flow from upstream, it will flood again,” said Okta Handipa.