Journalist Who Lost 50 Family Members in World’s Worst Tsunami Opens Up About What Came After (Exclusive)
"We [didn't] give enough education or knowledge to the people that we really need to take care [of] this," Dendy Montgomery tells PEOPLE
National Geographic/Duane McClunie/Richard Ing
When the 2004 earthquake started, journalist and videographer Dendy Montgomery filmed the devastation.Tsunami survivor Dendy Montgomery, 46, wasn't planning on working on Dec. 26, 2004 — then the world's worst tsunami was triggered by a 9.1 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Indonesia
Montgomery tells PEOPLE in this week's issue that drove to the Grand Mosque and had just noticed one of its minarets about to fall when his wife shouted a warning: “The water’s coming!”
In the two decades since, Montgomery believes the Indonesian government hasn't done enough to teach people what happened and what to do if it happens again in the future
It's been nearly 20 years since a catastrophic tsunami wreaked havoc on at least 12 countries and killed 230,000 people — Dendy Montgomery, of Indonesia, was one of the survivors, although many members of his family weren't as lucky.
On Dec. 26, 2024, Montgomery, a journalist, wasn’t planning to work that day, until the 9.1 magnitude earthquake began. So he and his wife Raihan Lubis — then newlyweds living at home with his mother — headed to downtown Banda Aceh.
"I told my mom that this is really my duty," he recalls saying. "I really need to [cover it]. He instructed her to stay inside and that he would come find her once he finished. He says he never imagined there being a tsunami. (At the time, he hadn't learned about them.)
Montgomery, who is featured in National Geographic’s Tsunami: Race Against Time (streaming now on Disney+ and Hulu), drove to the Grand Mosque and had just noticed one of its minarets about to fall when his wife shouted a warning: “The water’s coming!”
courtesy
Dendy Montgomery, July 2004 in Banda Aceh the Capitol of Aceh Province.Eventually, some 25 strangers piled onto their Jeep — a scramble Montgomery, the father of three, thinks helped anchor them to land.
But as he noticed the ocean water headed for his mom's home, he shares that he drove back to look for her. Miraculously he found her running on the street. "That's the happiest day in my life," he adds.
For more on Montgomery's account of the 2004 tsunami and other survivor stories, pick up this week's issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribe.
Along with his mom and wife, one of his aunts and brother Ronald, Montgomery survived the ordeal by escaping in the Jeep. But he later learned that 50 of his relatives, who were living together on his grandfather's land, had been killed.
In the two decades since the disaster, Montgomery argues the Indonesian government hasn't done enough to teach people what happened and what to do if it happens again in the future.
"We [didn't] give enough education or knowledge to the people that we really need to take care [of] this," he says. "It's what really [disappoints] me."
Today, Montgomery has continued to chronicle his country’s recovery and challenges and even opened a public library — on the beach. “I can smile now,” he adds.
