Environment Agency crane due to lift damaged boats out of River Avon
A crane is due to arrive outside Bath tomorrow (28 September) to lift dozens of boats out of the river for inspection.
Around 50 boats sank after a suspected broken sluice gate at Twerton allowed the water level to drop suddenly.
People who lived on houseboats lost their home and possessions when the water drained so rapidly that they caught on sandbanks and capsized before they could be moved.
The Environment Agency says it will take a few hours to inspect the damage to each boat.
When narrowboat owner James Stewart-Wigley escaped his boat before it went underwater he told ITV News "I'm just in pieces. This is my home for me and my two rescue dogs.
"This is everything I own and I was struggling anyway because of lockdown. I haven't had any work and now this.
"It's my home. I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't know where to start."
This is not the first time that the sluice gate has jammed.
A similar failure in October 2019 saw a number of boats stranded as well.
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