Reconstructing lost memories: Social memory as a foundation for disaster mitigation in Pandai Sikek

¹ Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Andalas, Padang, Indonesia
² Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Islamic Law, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt

^* Corresponding author: jonson@soc.unand.ac.id

Abstract

This study examines the 2024 flash flood in Pandai Sikek, West Sumatra, through the lens of disaster anthropology and social memory. Based on preliminary research and one week of ethnographic fieldwork, the research reveals that while extreme rainfall triggered the event, socio-ecological drivers such as post-COVID return migration, deforestation, and land-use change significantly amplified its impacts. The community’s vulnerability was heightened by the absence of social memory: no oral traditions, rituals, or institutional practices existed to anticipate or respond to such a disaster. The flood therefore collapsed long-standing narratives of safety associated with Mount Singgalang and forced the community to confront a new reality of risk. Findings show that the disaster produced both trauma and solidarity, as gotong royong, remittances from migrants, and local organizing supported immediate recovery. At the same time, new and contested memories of vulnerability began to emerge. Early mitigation efforts, including reforestation, canal reinforcement, and disaster awareness initiatives, indicate steps toward resilience, though challenges remain in institutionalizing these lessons. The study concludes that building resilience in Pandai Sikek requires not only ecological restoration but also the transformation of traumatic absence into enduring social memory.