Cumbria County Council Library Service has made special arrangements to give flood-affected households and businesses access to the internet and fax machines free of charge.
Carlisle’s main library at 11 Globe Lane, Harraby Library at Harraby School on Edgehill Road and Morton Library at Morton Community Centre on Wigton Road will all make fax machines and internet enabled computers available free to flood victims.
The weekend’s flooding left many homes without power and the floodwater itself may have damaged computers and other communications equipment in homes and businesses.
With so much information and advice from support services, insurance companies and other businesses available on websites, the loss of communications can present a real problem.
Cumbria County Council will make these library’s facilities available for those who need access to this technology in the wake of the flood.
Library staff will even be on hand to offer help and advice to anyone who is unfamiliar with the internet.
Carlisle's main library is now open seven days a week and the communications help will be available over the weekend.
Roger Bingham, county council spokesman for libraries, said: "Communications are so important and the flood may well have deprived households and businesses of vital communication tools - we hope we can help people get round these problems by offering them the use of our equipment for free."