Banda Aceh, 21 May 2026 — The Tsunami and Disaster Mitigation Research Center of Universitas Syiah Kuala held the 38th TDMRC Seminar Series under the theme “Lessons Learned from the Tropical Cyclone Senyar 2025.” The seminar was conducted in a hybrid format, bringing together participants onsite at the Dr. Ir. M. Ridha, M.Eng. Auditorium, 3rd Floor, TDMRC USK, and online participants through a virtual platform. The seminar served as an academic and practical forum to reflect on the experiences, challenges, and key lessons from Tropical Cyclone Senyar 2025, which had a significant impact on communities in Aceh and the northern part of Sumatra.
The seminar was moderated by Ir. Adrian Ulza, M.Sc. from TDMRC Universitas Syiah Kuala. The session featured several speakers who delivered their presentations in sequence, beginning with Prof. Taro Arikawa from Chuo University, Japan. He discussed Japan’s experience in dealing with cyclones and hydrometeorological disasters, offering an international perspective on the importance of preparedness, mitigation systems, and lessons from a country with long-standing experience in managing tropical storms, coastal flooding, and climate-related disaster risks.
The second presentation was delivered by Prof. Dr. Syamsidik, S.T., M.Sc. from TDMRC USK, who specifically discussed Tropical Cyclone Senyar 2025 as an important lesson for flood disaster management in Aceh. In his presentation, Prof. Syamsidik explained that from 25 to 27 November 2025, the northern part of Sumatra was struck by a cyclone that formed within the narrow area of the Malacca Strait. The cyclone triggered extreme rainfall, increased river discharge, major flooding, changes in river morphology, severe erosion, and damage to settlements, infrastructure, and agricultural land.
His presentation also highlighted that 18 out of 23 districts and cities in Aceh were directly affected, with the most severely impacted areas including North Aceh, Aceh Tamiang, East Aceh, Bener Meriah, Bireuen, Pidie Jaya, Central Aceh, Southeast Aceh, Gayo Lues, and Langsa. In terms of casualties, the presentation recorded 561 deaths in Aceh, out of approximately 1,200 deaths across three provinces in Sumatra.
The online participants were attended by approximately 94 people.
In this presentation, Prof. Syamsidik emphasized that Cyclone Senyar was not merely an extreme weather event but also a serious warning about the need to strengthen flood risk governance. Changes in river morphology, high sedimentation, damaged houses, and agricultural impacts indicate that flood mitigation cannot rely solely on emergency response after a disaster. Riverbank management, stronger river protection measures, risk mapping, and risk-sensitive spatial planning must become integral parts of future regional development.
The onsite participants showed great enthusiasm during the seminar
The seminar also emphasized that, in the case of Cyclone Senyar, sediments such as mud, sand, and flood-borne materials played a major role in exacerbating damage to buildings and the environment. Therefore, future flood damage assessments need to consider sediment impacts more seriously.
The third session was presented by Prof. Dr. Muksin, M.Si., M.Phil. from TDMRC USK, who discussed logistics distribution during the emergency response phase and lessons learned from the hydrometeorological disaster caused by Cyclone Senyar. In his presentation, Prof. Muksin described the major challenges faced by humanitarian logistics systems during the disaster. Access from Banda Aceh to North Aceh was cut off due to bridge damage, while Bener Meriah and Central Aceh were isolated. The limited availability of helicopters and aircraft, especially because local governments lack their own air transportation assets, has become one of the main obstacles to reaching disconnected areas.
This situation demonstrated that in large-scale disasters that cut off land access, support from sea and air fleets, as well as cross-agency personnel, is important. Prof. Muksin also explained various emergency response efforts, including the establishment of public kitchens, distribution of relief supplies, coordination among universities in Indonesia, and the importance of a borderless humanitarian approach.
In this context, the seminar emphasized that disasters do not recognize administrative boundaries, and humanitarian response must overcome bureaucratic barriers to accelerate assistance to affected communities. One of the key recommendations was the need to strengthen inter-agency coordination, ensure faster central government involvement when access to affected areas is disrupted, allow external assistance during the emergency response phase, and establish regional food production centers to meet the basic needs of survivors more quickly and systematically.
The final presentation was delivered by Dr. Satriana, S.TP., M.T., from the Emergency Food Division of TDMRC USK, who discussed innovations in ready-to-eat sterile food to support disaster emergency response. In her presentation, Dr. Satriana explained that the main impacts of Cyclone Senyar included extreme rainfall, floods, and landslides, which caused casualties and widespread damage to infrastructure, homes, property, and people’s livelihoods.
In such conditions, survivors need not only temporary shelter and health services, but also access to food, clean water, sanitation, and other essential needs. Therefore, food and nutrition are critical components in the early phase of post-disaster recovery.
Dr. Satriana emphasized that emergency food is not merely intended to “fill the stomach.” It must help maintain survivors’ intake of energy, protein, fat, and micronutrients until the normal food system is restored. Emergency food must also meet minimum standards for quantity, quality, safety, and ease of distribution. In crisis conditions, ideal emergency food should be ready to eat, energy-dense, highly nutritious, accepted by the community, shelf-stable at room temperature, safe, and easy to distribute, especially when survivors are unable to cook, clean water is limited, public kitchens are not yet operating, distribution routes are disrupted, or affected areas remain isolated.
In developing emergency food products, Dr. Satriana presented several product forms that can be adjusted to survivors’ needs and logistical conditions. These include emergency food bars that are compact and easy to distribute, high-energy biscuits that are shelf-stable and suitable for mass distribution, instant porridge or rehydrated food suitable for children and older adults, local food-based products made from cassava, sweet potato, taro, corn, legumes, banana, sago, rice, or local flour, and ready-to-eat sterile food in retort pouch packaging, which is closer to a complete meal although it requires higher production and distribution costs.
One of the key innovations highlighted was the collaboration between IPB University and TDMRC USK in developing sterile rice in retort pouch packaging. This program was part of a community service initiative for natural disaster emergency response in Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra. The product developed was sterile, ready-to-eat rice produced using simple sterilization technology with a modified pressure cooker, making it easier to operate and relatively affordable. The innovation was designed to produce food that is ready to eat, shelf-stable, and easy to distribute to flood survivors.
The emergency food strengthening activities were carried out in several stages. On 21–22 December 2025, a workshop on ready-to-eat sterile food innovation for disaster emergencies was held. Production of sterile rice continued with USK volunteers from late December 2025 to January 2026. On 5 and 7 January 2026, the activity received coverage and interviews from TVRI Aceh, which helped expand public awareness of the emergency food laboratory’s readiness.
On 4 February 2026, a consultation on production room layout was conducted with BPOM Aceh to ensure proper process flow, room hygiene, equipment needs, and food safety standards. On 16 April and 1 May 2026, TDMRC USK also conducted internal training and student education to strengthen the understanding of emergency food processes. Another important milestone was the approval of the production room layout by BPOM Aceh on 4 May 2026, marking an initial step toward the operational readiness of the emergency food laboratory.
Through this seminar, TDMRC USK emphasized that the lessons learned from Tropical Cyclone Senyar 2025 are not limited to documenting disaster impacts but also include strengthening preparedness systems. The disaster showed that readiness for hydrometeorological hazards must include science-based mitigation, risk-sensitive spatial planning, river area protection, adaptive logistics systems, coordinated public kitchens and distribution mechanisms, and safe, nutritious, locally producible emergency food innovation.
