Alfira O'Sullivan and Murtala - After the Flood

Alfira O'Sullivan and Murtala - After the Flood

From Talking Indonesia by Talking Indonesia

January 11, 2026 · 33 min

About this episode

Jemma discusses the aftermath of the floods in Aceh with Alfira O’Sullivan and Murtala, exploring the disaster's impact and the community's response.

After the floods – Alfira O’Sullivan and Murtala In late November last year, heavy rainfall brought by Cyclone Senyar saw massive floods and landslides hit large parts of West and North Sumatra and Aceh Province. The images captured on cell phones and quickly sent across the world showed horrifying scenes of villages swept away by raging rivers and mudslides; and astonishingly, tree logs coursing down hillsides, collecting everything in their wake. The cost of this disaster, six weeks later, is still being counted. The National Disaster Management Agency's official tally has around 1,200 people killed, with hundreds still missing and thousands more injured. Over 230,000 people remained displaced. In the wake of the disaster, in a somewhat surprising shift in tone, government officials joined scientists and environmental experts in acknowledging that changes to these landscapes caused by large-scale deforestation and forest conversion were contributing factors to the disaster and must be addressed. Whilst this was welcomed, concrete policy is still to come, and aid has been slow to reach those in need with victims calling for more and faster assistance. Over a month later, what is…

People in this episode

Host: Jemma

Guests: Alfira O’Sullivan, Murtala

Topics covered

  • natural disaster
  • floods
  • environmental impact
  • displacement
  • government response
  • community recovery

Keywords

  • floods
  • Aceh
  • Cyclone Senyar
  • disaster management
  • deforestation
  • community aid
  • environmental policy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: National Disaster Management Agency

Places: West Sumatra, North Sumatra, Aceh Province

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