Three Months After the Disaster, Eight Villages in Tapteng-Tapsel Remain Difficult to Access

Three months after the disaster, eight villages in Tapanuli Tengah and Tapanuli Selatan remain difficult to access.

The floods and landslides that hit the North Sumatra region on November 25, 2025, continue to pose problems.

Although the disaster occurred three months ago, eight villages in Tapanuli Tengah and Tapanuli Selatan regencies remain difficult to reach.

Assistant for Governance and People’s Welfare of North Sumatra, Basarin Yunus Tanjung, said in North Tapanuli that the areas with limited access include Rura Julu Toruan village in Sipaholon sub-district.

Then there are Pertengahan village, Huta Tua village, and Huta Julu Parbalik village in Parmonangan sub-district.

Meanwhile, in Tapanuli Tengah, areas with limited access are in Tukka and Sibabangun sub-districts, including Saur Manggita village, Sait Kalangan Dua village, Sigiring-giring village, and Sibio-bio village.

Basarin emphasized that these areas are not completely isolated. Residents can still pass through using motorcycles or on foot. However, four-wheeled vehicles cannot enter because the condition of the bridges and roads has not fully recovered.

“These areas with limited access are not isolated. They can still be reached by two-wheeled vehicles and on foot. However, four-wheeled vehicles cannot,” said Basarin, Thursday (February 26).

Temporary bridges

He also explained that the government, together with the military, is building 10 temporary bridges in several affected areas. Eight bridges have been completed, while two others are still under construction.

However, subsequent floods on February 11 and 16 caused one of the completed bridges to shift and be damaged.

“But because there were subsequent floods on February 11 and 16, one of the bridges shifted again and was damaged, but we will repair it again,” he said.

In addition to building bridges, officers are also cleaning up and excavating landslide material that has blocked village roads. Basarin hopes that the repair process can be completed in March, provided the weather is favorable.

“If the weather is favorable, this can be completed by March, we hope the weather will support it,” said Basarin.

The temporary bridges are built using iron construction with retaining plates on the left and right sides, and the top is filled with soil so that vehicles can pass. The materials are provided by the North Sumatra Provincial Government, while the equipment and technical support come from the military.

“This is what we are building in cooperation with the military, where the materials come from the Provincial Government and the equipment comes from the military, hopefully it will be passable for four-wheeled vehicles to transport food supplies,” said Basarin.

Given that floods occurred again on February 11 and 16, the North Sumatra Provincial Government is also conducting weather modification operations to anticipate further impacts. This effort is being made to ensure that rainfall is not concentrated in one area.

“We have carried out this weather modification operation on February 18-21 at two locations, namely Silangit Airport and Kualanamu Airport, we hope that with this weather modification operation, there will be no more rain in Tapteng in the next few days,” said Basarin.

It is known that the floods and landslides affected 479,047 households or 1,803,725 people. As of now, 909 households or 3,506 people are still in evacuation tents. Meanwhile, the death toll is 376, 4 injured, and 40 missing.