Cllr Vera McWilliams complained that people could find no-one to contact for help following two days of torrential rain which left many houses flooded in the area.

BBC NI's, Paula McCann:"It will take months to get back to normal after flooding"

More than 900 homes were also left without electricity due to a power failure.

The weather may have improved but people in the County Antrim town are still suffering the effects of the Sixmile River bursting its banks.

The army turned out to put sandbags in place but townsfolk say they came too late.

Cllr Vera McWilliams; claims nobody knew who to call

"We as local representatives feel there is a lack of co-ordination between the departments (of government)", said Cllr McWilliams.

"We don't even have a number where we can contact so we're vulnerable to people who think that we can't do anything," she said.

Rivers Agency spokesman Melvyn Hamilton said that it had a co-ordinated approach involving the RUC and other agencies to respond to the flooding.

"As far as Ballyclare is concerned, we were on our way quickly to there - in fact we were on the ground there on Sunday afternoon," he said.

Severe effects

Some of the flooding was also blamed on culverts which were blocked by litter and other debris.

In one case in Holywood, Co Down, a culvert blocked by a tractor tyre led to severe flooding.

"One of the major problems is the build up of urban debris in grills - there are 225 in Belfast in total," said Mr Hamilton.

Army personnel supplied sandbags to protect properties

Ballyclare photographer Edmund McMullan was one of those hit financially by the flooding.

He has to put his business on hold for a couple of days until his premises dry out. He has already had to pay for hiring a skip to dump water-damaged fittings.

"Apart from getting four sandbags for my back door I haven't had any contact from anybody," he said.

"We're literally getting on with it ourselves. I spoke to our insurance company and thank god we are insured."

Water flooded in house cellars - in one case it was five feet deep. Locals believe that it will be months before their homes are back to normal.

The latest floods crisis follows two days of heavy rain throughout Northern Ireland.

The worst weather conditions were in Counties Antrim, Down and Londonderry with many roads under water in low-lying areas.

Elsewhere, the continuing downpour caused localised flooding and farmers had to move livestock indoors out of water-logged fields.

One of the busiest railway routes into Belfast has been re-opened following a landslide on Sunday.

A normal timetable has been resumed on the Belfast to Bangor rail line, local transport company Translink confirmed.