New Orleans Hotel Implosion

In a matter of seconds, a 17-story hotel was imploded on Sunday July 22 2012. The old Pallas Hotel on Canal Street, also known as the Grand Palace, was blown up with 400 tons of explosives, creating a huge plume of smoke. The demolition took place to make way for the new University Medical Center, a hospital being built to replace the old Charity Hospital, which was closed after Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005 and flooded the hospital's basement.