Cyclone Senyar left widespread destruction across northern Sumatra, washing thousands of logs downstream and damaging homes, bridges, and community infrastructure. Now, Indonesian communities hit hardest by the storm are being encouraged to use flood‑damaged logs in the reconstruction, a move backed by a presidential decree, according to Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian.
“The President’s policy, conveyed during a recent meeting in Hambalang, is that the timber logs can be used by the public or government for post‑disaster recovery,” Karnavian said yesterday, following a meeting of the new government task force charged with rebuilding areas damaged by the cyclone.
As Head of the Task Force for the Acceleration of Post‑Disaster Rehabilitation and Reconstruction in Sumatra, Karnavian said large volumes of washed‑away logs were found along the East and North Aceh border: “Many have already been cut into planks for house construction, bridges, and other purposes.”
However, he said that a significant portion of the timber is too small for structural use, with local leaders instead proposing alternative uses for the smaller logs: “One suggestion from several local leaders was, ‘Why not let the regional‑owned enterprises (BUMD) sell it to third parties, like coal‑fired power plants (PLTU)?’” Karnavian said.
Many of the power plants in North Sumatra use timber as fuel, whilst local brick‑making industries also rely on wood for production. “There are also local industries, such as brick‑making, that have been asking whether they can use the timber, as it has been difficult to source wood until now,” he said.
Earlier this month, Wood Central reported that Indonesia’s Ministry of Forestry has recovered and repurposed more than 700 flood-damaged logs, turning them into 1,260 cubic metres to help build critical infrastructure in North Aceh.
According to the Head of the Gunung Leuser National Park Authority (BBTNGL), Subhan, the recovered driftwood is being sorted for immediate reuse. “The driftwood has been sorted in residents’ yards and at riverbanks to be reused, particularly for constructing temporary housing.”
Whilst in Langkahan Subdistrict, North Aceh, 87 Forestry Ministry personnel — supported by 38 heavy machinery from the Forestry Ministry, the military, and the Public Works Ministry — have been deployed to accelerate recovery operations. Much of the work is focused on sorting timber near homes to ensure it can be used quickly and efficiently.
Government Crackdown Intensifies After Cyclone
Last month, Indonesian authorities cancelled more than 1.5 million hectares of forestry permits and launched a sweeping criminal probe after new research linked large‑scale illegal logging in North Sumatra to the catastrophic floods and landslides triggered by Cyclone Senyar — one of Southeast Asia’s deadliest natural disasters in 2025.
In late November, relentless rain hammered northern Sumatra for three straight days, with one district in Aceh Province recording 16 inches in a single day. Four villages were destroyed, and farther south, the storm unleashed another hazard: torrents of timber smashing into homes.
“When Cyclone Senyar made landfall, it sent logs and debris into residential areas of North Sumatra Province,” said Sarma Hutajulu, a volunteer helping clear wreckage in Tukka District who spoke to the New York Times. “Everywhere you look — left and right along the road — there are piles of timber. Those are what smashed into people’s homes.”
