01 December 2025
Anonymous Writer
HUMAS FAHUTAN — The Faculty of Forestry, Universitas Sumatera Utara (USU), once again demonstrated its commitment to humanitarian action. A team of lecturers and students from the USU Faculty of Forestry went directly to the field to help evacuate residents affected by the major floods that struck several areas in North Sumatra on 28–29 November 2025. The action was led by Dr. Achmad Siddik Thoha, S.Hut., M.Si., Director of the Center for Climate Change Studies and Disaster Mitigation of the USU Faculty of Forestry and Chair of the Indonesian Volunteers for Humanity (RELINDO) North Sumatra.
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Evacuation in Medan Deli Began on Friday Afternoon
On Friday afternoon, 28 November 2025, the joint team of lecturers, students, and volunteers began rescue operations in the Medan Deli area. The RELINDO rescue team collaborated with Rescue Bitco, who had just arrived with large inner tubes usually used by tourists for rafting in Bukit Lawang. This time, the tubes became the main rescue tool.
The participating student team came from the Rimbapala Student Activity Unit of the USU Faculty of Forestry and students supervised by Dr. Achmad Siddik Thoha. At 21.00 WIB, the team started evacuating residents in Tanjung Mulia Hilir, Medan Deli. The darkness, power outages, waist-deep water, and cold air added to the challenges of the night mission. A total of five residents were rescued along with their important belongings.
Search for Missing Teenager in Langkat
At 23.00 WIB, the team headed to Tanjungpura, Langkat Regency, after receiving many reports requesting evacuation. RELINDO went straight to Hinai District to search for a teenager who had not returned home in a dark, flooded settlement area. Residents helped in the search, but the teenager had not been found until dawn.
Saturday Morning: Tanjungpura Surrounded by Floodwaters
On Saturday, 29 November 2025, the rescue team continued their mission in Tanjungpura City, Langkat, which was then isolated by the flood. Rescue vehicles and ambulances moved through floodwater along the eastern Sumatra route. A pusso truck eventually assisted by transporting equipment to reach the deepest evacuation point still accessible to large vehicles.
The situation in Tanjungpura was emotionally and physically draining. The team encountered ill elderly residents needing urgent help, shivering toddlers crying from cold, and a woman about to give birth in an emergency situation. The RELINDO ambulance worked nonstop transporting residents to Putri Bidadari General Hospital in Stabat through still-flooded routes.
Grief Amid the Humanitarian Mission
Upon returning to the flooded area, the team faced a difficult task: transporting the body of a resident who had no accompanying family. Without financial support and with no relatives to contact, the RELINDO team assisted with the fardhu kifayah process so the deceased could be buried properly. This moment became the most touching part of the mission.
Two Exhausting Days, Unwavering Spirit
After two full days of nonstop evacuation work, the team finally returned to the RELINDO secretariat on Saturday night. Amid long fuel queues in Medan, the volunteers went home physically exhausted but filled with hope that more assistance would reach the residents still in need.
Dr. Achmad Siddik Thoha stated that all efforts were a form of service from the USU Faculty of Forestry and RELINDO to the community.
“Allah is the true helper. We are merely guided to act to the best of our ability,” he said.
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