Delfi Neski, Padang, W – Sumatra. The West Sumatra provincial government has ended its disaster emergency status and shifted to the post-disaster recovery phase after reviewing conditions on the ground. Governor Mahyeldi Ansharullah said recovery efforts will focus on speeding up damage and loss assessments and restoring basic services for communities hit by floods and landslides in late November.
"During this recovery phase, our priority is to ensure damage and loss assessments are completed quickly and accurately, while basic services are restored," Mahyeldi said late Monday.
The restoration of essential services will include access to clean water, sanitation, health care, education, and temporary housing for displaced residents.
Mahyeldi said the provincial government aims to complete the damage and loss assessment by no later than Dec. 28, stressing that timely data collection is critical to allow rehabilitation and reconstruction programs to begin in early 2026.
Despite the end of the provincial emergency status, Mahyeldi said public safety remains the top priority. The provincial administration will also intensify trauma healing and psychosocial support, maintain regional stability, and accelerate the validation and verification of post-disaster needs assessments, which will serve as the basis for the Post-Disaster Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Plan (R3P).
The governor urged regents and mayors across West Sumatra to ensure that damage and loss data are compiled comprehensively, accurately, and fully verified to support the formulation of the R3P.
While the provincial emergency status has been lifted, three districts – Agam, Tanah Datar, and West Pasaman – have decided to extend their local emergency status, citing ongoing response needs and conditions on the ground.
The transition out of emergency status is expected to allow recovery efforts to proceed in a more structured, measurable, and sustainable manner, with the goal of restoring normal economic and social activities as quickly as possible.
Separately, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) reported that the death toll from floods and landslides across Sumatra rose by 16 on Monday, bringing the total number of fatalities to 1,106. In West Sumatra alone, the number of confirmed deaths increased by 12 to 260 as of Monday, up from 248 a day earlier.
BNPB also recorded 72 people still missing in West Sumatra, while the number of displaced residents stood at 9,078 as of Monday.