Vermont HCR 226: House concurrent resolution in memory of East Montpelier firefighting veteran William Howard George Jr.

Bill Text

R-273 Page 1 of 1
2026

VT LEG #388383 v.1
No. R-273. House concurrent resolution remembering, with great sadness, the
historic and interconnected 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disasters that
struck the Tōhoku region of Japan.
(H.C.R.226)
Offered by Representatives Cooper of Pownal, Carris Duncan of Whitingham, Duke
of Burlington, Graning of Jericho, and Priestley of Bradford
Whereas, on March 11, 2011, at an underground location off the northeast coast of the
Oshika Peninsula in Japan, there occurred a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, which the
Japanese government has designated the “Great East Japan Earthquake,” and
Whereas, this earthquake, the largest ever recorded in Japan, and the fourth-largest
documented earthquake on the planet since this type of data was first collected in 1900,
lasted six minutes and precipitated a tsunami that inundated over 200 square miles of
coastal Japanese land and triggered waves that, at their maximum height, rose over 100
feet high, the equivalent of a 12-story building, and
Whereas, the official casualty count from these combined disasters numbered 6,242
injuries, including 284 firefighters; 2,553 missing persons; and, tragically, 19,759
deaths, and
Whereas, these two cataclysmic events triggered an equally horrific disaster at the
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, causing three nuclear reactor meltdowns and the
discharge of radioactive water, which forced the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of
area residents, many for an extended period of time, and
Whereas, the financial cost of these interconnected catastrophes is estimated to have
exceeded $300 billion, possibly the costliest natural disaster in modern history, and
Whereas, on March 11, 2026, the people of Japan and the world are pausing to
remember these tragic events and their impact on Japan, now therefore be it
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives:
That the General Assembly remembers, with great sadness, the historic and
interconnected 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disasters that struck the Tōhoku
region of Japan, and be it further
Resolved: That the Secretary of State be directed to send a copy of this resolution to
Consul General of Japan Seiichiro Takahashi in Boston and to Dr. Masatoshi Kida and
Mrs. Reiko Kida in recognition of Mr. and Mrs. Kida’s two-plus decades of endeavoring
to enhance the friendship, cultural understanding, and warm relationship between the
peoples of Japan and Vermont.