Buildings belonging to Keswick Ministries are among those damaged in the devastating floods that hit the town over the weekend.

The storms that battered the country over the weekend killed one man and left hundreds of homes flooded and without power. Police declared a major incident and coastguards were called in to rescue stranded residents. Keswick was one of the Cumbrian towns badly affected.  

While Keswick Ministries' headquarters on Skiddaw Street were not flooded, buildings on the Rawnsley and Derwent sites have been under as much as three feet of water.

The buildings are used by a local church, the King's Church, and by various local organisations whose work will be badly affected.

Keswick Ministries, whose work is based around the annual Keswick Convention which draws thousands of peopletothe Lake District town for weeks of prayer and Bible teaching, opened the Convention Centre to provide shelter for two nights for people who had been flooded out of their homes. It is now open as a refuge for townspeople during the day.

The Centre has been designated as an official foodbank for Keswick and is being used to distribute food, water and other supplies.

Local Keswick Ministries staff have also been affected, with some staff and volunteers without fresh water. One team member has had his house flooded.

Spokeswoman Jutta Devenish said that the floods had been "devastating", but that compared with the last floods in 2009 the response had been better coordinated. However, she said people had been shocked that it had happened again so soon.

She asked for prayer for all those affected and encouraged supporters to give to the Cumbria Foundation floods appeal. The appeal also accepts donations by text (to 70070 with the message 'FLUD15' followed by a monetary amount.

She said donations to help Keswick Ministries recover any costs not covered by insurance would also be welcome.

The floods caused by Storm Desmond affected large areas of north-west England. The Met Office, said in one of the worst affected areas 201.8 millimetres (7.94 inches) of rain had fallen on Saturday – only slightly below the 215 mm usually seen during the whole of December. Gusts of wind reached 90 miles per hour, a spokesman said.

The worst of the storm responsible for the flooding had passed according to forecasters but more wet weather was expected in coming days.