Within an hour, Sister Merrow’s washroom had become the headquarters of the newly constituted Lowbank Emergency Maintenance Committee. The pine laundry tables were cleared of bandages and covered with Hal Rook’s hand-drawn maps of the district under-road drains. Varo Nenn sat at the end of the table, his ink-horn open, writing down the roster of volunteer block captains with careful archival care.
The plan was simple, robust, and fully independent of academy high council. Lowbank was divided into four working sectors, each commanded by an experienced tradesman. Eren Tal took charge of Sector One, covering the timber water gates and the damaged flour mill. Master Galt took Sector Two, organizing the boatmen to patrol the river walls with sounding poles. Miller Tom took Sector Three, overseeing the sandbag reserves at the cooperage yard. And Sister Merrow commanded Sector Four, coordinating food, dry bedding, and medical triage from the washroom.
Eight gauge stations were established along the Lowbank creek, each manned by two apprentices equipped with animal fat lanterns, chalk, and brass-ruled float gauges. Every thirty minutes, a runner would carry the recorded water levels back to the washroom. There, Pella plotted the readings on a large master slate hung above the hearth.
