Knowing that I wanted to write an article about him, Mr. Huy shared sincerely in a humble voice: "I can't do much! I'm just an individual. In the work of responding to natural disasters and extreme weather, there are many forces and people who have made much greater contributions than me...!".

Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Huy, from Hoa Loc commune, Thanh Hoa province, has more than 20 years of research experience and is widely known as an expert and consultant on environmental issues, climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction both domestically and internationally, especially disaster warning and extreme weather; is affectionately called "Huy Nguyen weather" by the online community. His personal Facebook page currently has nearly 300,000 followers. Every post he posts has thousands to tens of thousands of interactions, most of which express respect and gratitude for the very accurate, timely, and thorough information, helping many families proactively respond, keeping their lives and property safe from the devastation of natural disasters.

Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Huy. Photo: NVCC

Stay up all night for the community!

I have been following the Facebook page “Huy Nguyen” for several years now and have noticed that every time the rainy season comes, his personal account seems to be “at full capacity”. Mr. Huy said that there are days when his phone is “boiling” because of the number of people sending private messages to ask about the situation, developments of storms, floods, and landslides. Many nights he has to stay up almost all night to guide people in the provinces to respond to natural disasters and storms and floods over the phone.

There were times when the situation was “hot and hot”, in order to answer questions from many readers on social networks, he proactively scheduled a live “livestream” to interact and guide many people. When giving instructions, he was always meticulous, careful, thoughtful, reminding everyone of every small detail such as: “People in Nghe An, Ha Tinh , the West of Thanh Hoa… remember to fully charge your phones and battery-powered devices tomorrow. In Vinh city, Hoang Mai area, if you park your car, avoid parking under trees, avoid parking under billboards, avoid parking in low-lying areas…”.

Mr. "Weather Huy" once went to the scene to check, give forecasts and warnings about floods to help the community respond. Photo: Facebook character

There was a case like the night of July 23, 2025, he almost stayed up all night to call and guide the owner of Trung Kien passenger bus (one of two sleeper buses carrying about 20 passengers stuck in the middle of two deep flooded points on National Highway 7A, the section passing through the western part of Nghe An province) to take passengers up the mountain to avoid the disaster.

He was also responsible, meticulously imparting his experience, guiding the car owner and 2-3 other young men to survey safe locations on the mountain and then find a low-slope path to lead people up the mountain to avoid the flood at night. Thanks to following his instructions and with the help of the authorities and local forces, the whole group was safe, escaping the "dilemma" in the middle of the night, in the middle of the wild mountain forest, the road was buried.

“I took the initiative to do it because I found it useful for everyone”!

Forecaster Nguyen Ngoc Huy was a victim of the historic flood in early November 1999. At that time, he and two student friends were staying in a row of level-four houses in Hue City when the floodwaters rose very quickly. In just one or two hours, the water rose almost to head height. At that time, Huy and everyone else waded out to help the elderly and children take temporary shelter in the only two-story house in the neighborhood and then returned to their rooms. The water continued to rise without stopping.

People had to climb up the tra - a wooden bar placed on a plank near the roof, sat there for two days and then luckily escaped. And perhaps, from that horrifying memory, it made him more determined to later decide to do a PhD at Kyoto University (Japan) on climate and disaster risk management. Mr. Huy said that not knowing the forecast information made him fall into a passive position, which was a lesson for him to learn later, in disaster warning bulletins, he always tried to be detailed and use the most common language possible when informing people in disaster areas.

Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Huy stopped his car to "livestream" directly on his personal Facebook page, helping people have timely and effective response plans to storms and floods. Photo captured via Huy Nguyen's Facebook screen.

Despite his busy work, over the years, Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Huy has regularly appeared on his personal Facebook page to warn and guide the community when natural disasters or extreme weather situations occur. “I do this job very naturally because this is my expertise. Secondly, I find forecasting and warning necessary and useful for everyone. If accurate and timely warnings are given, it will help people proactively respond and minimize damage to life and property,” Huy sincerely shared.

In the forecasting process, Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Huy relies on open source data sources and some sources that require purchase or membership registration, both international and domestic. Currently, he is fortunate to be provided with a free account to access about 2,300 rain gauge stations nationwide from the company Watec, which includes historical rainfall for comparison, so it is also convenient for his forecasting and warning. Another particularly important source of "data", according to him, is personal experience. To accurately forecast natural disasters in a locality, one must grasp information about the terrain and climate characteristics there, which means combining many interactive factors, not just data.

One special thing is that, although the forecast information on the page "Huy Nguyen" is almost absolutely accurate, he never shows any signs of complacency. In his articles, after evaluating and giving his opinion, he always includes a "warning": This is only information from an independent expert. He also advises readers to refer to more official information from the system of central and local authorities to have a synchronous response.

“For me, the biggest fear is making wrong predictions or warnings. I have also made wrong and emotional predictions, so I always remind myself to control my emotions to make accurate predictions based on data,” Huy confided sincerely.

When asked about his plans for this job in the near future, Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Huy shared: “In recent years, forecast products from domestic and international forecasting centers have been relatively accurate and most of them are open source forecasts. People can also proactively monitor extreme weather information through mobile phone apps, so they can be proactive in response. Therefore, I may gradually reduce forecasting and warning on social networks and focus more on in-depth research. That is also a job that helps the community more, especially in the context of increasingly extreme weather and climate, and climate change is happening more strongly and seriously…”.

According to Associate Professor, Dr. Mai Van Khiem, Director of the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, disseminating and sharing hydro-meteorological information to the community is extremely necessary, helping people to be vigilant, proactive in preventing and mitigating damage caused by natural disasters. Individuals and independent experts such as Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Huy have contributed to spreading social attention to the topic of climate change response and natural disaster risks... Hopefully, in the coming time, there will be more opportunities for scientists inside and outside the forecasting agency to exchange, cooperate, and share data to bring forecasting and warning information closer and faster to the community, towards the common goal of minimizing damage caused by natural disasters and ensuring safety for people.

Not only does he enthusiastically forecast, warn, and guide the community during storms, floods, and landslides, Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Huy has also repeatedly played the role of "coordinator", connecting relief and charity activities with the aim of helping the most and minimizing damage to the people. Having done so many things, however, when I expressed my desire to learn more about his personal information, Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Huy immediately refused because he did not want to say much about himself, he just wanted everyone to know "Huy Nguyen Weather" on his Facebook page and his practical activities there...

BATTLE LITERATURE

    Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/phong-su-dieu-tra/cuoc-thi-nhung-tam-guong-binh-di-ma-cao-quy-lan-thu-17/anh-huy-thoi-tiet-850725