Friday morning, Gov. Mike DeWine announced the state’s emergency operations center will be activated Sunday … in preparation for Monday’s eclipse.

On Tuesday, as horrific storms were raging across the Buckeye State, DeWine reminded listeners he had requested assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency … a week ago, because of the tornado that ravaged the Indian Lake region three weeks ago.

As of this writing he has not made a peep about what is happening to the communities under water along his state’s eastern border.

Across the Ohio River, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice didn’t lose a second declaring states of emergency — first in the counties affected by the storms and then those hit by flooding. Barbour, Brooke, Hancock, Marshall, Ohio, Wetzel and Wood counties joined Fayette, Kanawha, Lincoln and Nicholas in the official state of emergency. For the Mountain State, that ensures “the allocation of necessary resources and expediting emergency response efforts. It allows state and local agencies to take swift and decisive actions to mitigate the impact of dangers in an effort to protect the lives and property of West Virginians.”

It cuts through red tape and lets the state support communities even as we are still assessing what we will face. It also sets the West Virginia National Guard into action.

Meanwhile nearly a dozen state agencies will have their time and attention monopolized as part of efforts to prepare for an eclipse that is overshadowing a real need in Appalachian Ohio. That’s an eclipse we’ve known was coming for years, which will affect the state for less than a day. What happened to the Ohio Valley crept up on us over a couple of days, and the effects will remain for months — perhaps even years.

DeWine, lawmakers, agency heads and anyone else who could be part of opening up resources and assistance to the Ohio Valley must not delay any longer.