Where has the Executive gone in snow crisis?

Mr McCrea said: “There appears to be no coordinated plan for dealing with rural and or isolated communities.

“There is no central number to call, no way of getting relevant and timely information to concerned citizens. People at their wits end are met with generalities, bland assurances by people who do not understand the seriousness of their particular situation.

“We could make more use of social media, we could publish the logged calls on the websites, we could make more specific location based announcements.

“All of this is technically possible, but requires organisation, planning and resources.

“But we don’t do any of this. It is a failure of organisation.

“Extraordinary events appear to happen regularly, but always catch us by surprise.

“The Executive must take immediate steps to set up a regional control centre to handle all future emergencies. Northern Ireland needs a well-oiled machine with appropriate staff and resources to deal with any civic or civil emergency.

“The events of the last 72 hours have shown that there isn’t one.”