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NEW ORLEANS (AP) – the City of New Orleans is preparing to blow up two giant, badly damaged construction cranes that tower over a partially collapsed hotel project on the edge of the French quarter, bringing them down Friday just before tropical weather that could cause them to spiral out of control.

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They hope to demolish the cranes with a series of controlled explosions that will drop them straight down without damaging gas and power lines and historic buildings.

Fire chief Tim McConnell said they are working quickly to destroy the multi-ton structures as authorities monitor the outer bands of what the national hurricane center expects to become tropical storm Nestor. Forecasters said the storm could raise strong winds and rain by Friday evening.

Mayor LaToya Cantrell cited the collapsed Hard Rock Hotel and the upcoming storm in declaring a state of emergency that gives police “command or use of any private property,” drive people out of dangerous areas and suspend the sale or transportation of alcohol and firearms, among other measures.

“There is still the possibility of tropical storm force winds here in New Orleans,” Governor John Bel Edwards said, flanking the mayor at a Thursday night news conference. “It’s not a possibility. But there is a possibility that we will have increased winds, no matter what.”

Workers in the bucket, right, begin the process of planting explosive charges on two unstable cranes at the Hard Rock Hotel, which underwent a partial, major collapse on Saturday, October 12, in New Orleans, seen on Thursday, October 17, 2019. Authorities

The fire chief described a plan involving workers suspended from another crane moved Thursday to loosen damaged construction towers with torches and attach explosives at key points. One of the towers is about 270 feet (82 meters) tall, the other about 300 feet (91 meters). Both have massive cross arms, adding more tonnage. Neither that, nor another is not stable.

“The rear tower moved four inches overnight, the one in the front moved two inches,” McConnell said. “They’re not meant to be.”

McConnell said the already wide evacuation zone around the facility would be expanded before the explosion. Gas is cut off to a major power line, measures are taken to protect this line and underground power lines that may be affected by falling debris. McConnell said the line would be severely damaged were a crane on the ground on it.

If the operation is successful, McConnell said, the towers will fall vertically and simultaneously. “Think about it as it melts,” he told reporters.

Experts, including those who knocked down damaged buildings on Ground zero after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, have been working around the clock since Saturday to develop means to safely knock down cranes.

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A construction project collapsed Saturday in blinding clouds of dust, killing three workers and injuring more than 20 people. Only one of the three bodies was recovered from the wreckage.

The cause of the collapse remains unknown. The occupational safety and health administration will investigate. Lawsuits have already been filed on behalf of the victims.

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