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A year ago today, the residents of Cirendeu, Tange­rang, were woken by what sounded like thunder when part of the Situ Gintung dam collapsed, unleashing millions of cubic meters of water from the reservoir onto the houses below it.

After days of search-and-rescue efforts, the immense toll was clear: 101 people had been killed and 300 houses destroyed.

Dadang Misbahun, a 40-year-old mosque keeper, recalled the tragedy.

“I heard a big sound, ‘bam,’ and I decided to get out of the mosque because I was afraid it would be flooded. Then I ran in panic to get away from the water,” he told the Jakarta Globe on Friday, adding that he did not know how long he had run, because his neighbors had put him on the missing-persons list.

Waenah, 50, who sells food, coffee and cigarettes in road-side stall, said the raging waters took with them the home she had lived in since the 1970s.

Although she and her family survived, she was terribly shocked because she had never imagined such devastation.

“It happened just after I held a baby shower for my daughter. She was seven months pregnant when the disaster happened. I was so afraid that I would lose her,” she said.

For months after the collapse, thousands of residents stayed in shelters or with neighbors. But five months after the tragedy, the locals, with the help of the government and aid organizations, began picking up the pieces.

Dadang said that by August conditions were back to normal, with aid funds distributed and people starting to clear away the rubble and rebuild.

A total of Rp 6.7 billion ($737,000) in aid was pooled from the central government, Banten provincial administration and various private donors, and distributed to 614 families. The amount given to each ranged from Rp 2.5 million to Rp 20 million, based on the losses suffered by each household.

Waenah said she was grateful for the Rp 20 million in aid. “But we couldn’t live off of Rp 20 million. If I had a choice, I would rather that we didn’t need the money to begin with,” said Waenah, adding that she prefers to be giving, rather than receiving, assistance.

However, she was worried that she might lose her source of income because her food stall stands on government land, and officials had told her family the land would be needed for the dam rehabilitation project.

“They would give us money as compensation for our building,” she said.

“What I want is for them to guarantee that I can still sell food to make ends meet. I want to continue to sell here.”

Dadang, who said he had to go back to his hometown in Sukabumi, West Java, to recover from his trauma, was also grateful.

“I was helped by the aid fund. I got money, clothes and food, because I had nothing left,” said Dadang, who lives in a food stall across the street from the mosque.

The Jabalurrahmah Mosque where Dadang worked has been a source of hope for the tragedy-stricken residents, as it was spared the brunt of the disaster, sustaining only broken glass even though all the buildings near it were washed away.

As they did a year ago on the Friday after the tragedy, residents again gathered in the mosque — now newly furnished and expanded — for Friday prayers.

Meanwhile, workers were busy with the reconstruction of the dam and building a canal to divert water from the dam to the Pasanggrahan River. The central government began the Rp 91.7 billion rehabilitation project early this year and expects to complete it by December.

Dadang said he hoped the dam would be finished as soon as possible, as the new dam with its parks and museum would attract more visitors to the area.

“That will give good benefits for people in the area,” he said.

Teuku Zulkifli, 65, who lost Rp 500 million worth of property, including fish ponds and nine small houses he rented out, is also looking forward to the dam rehabilitation. He said that of the 3,500 square meters of land he owned, some 600 square meters had been bought by the government to be used as part of the dam-rehabilitation program.

“I will use the money to build new rental houses and revamp my stalls, because once the dam is complete, many people will want to visit here, and that’s good for business,” he said.

He also received a separate Rp 60 million in aid funds that he said he would use to rebuild his food stall that was washed away.

“The government must make a strong dam and make sure that they manage and monitor it. Don’t let this terrible incident happen again,” he said.