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3 injured in scaffolding collapse at uptown Sheraton

Three workers at an uptown Charlotte hotel were taken to the hospital after winds ripped a temporary wall off the front of the building and blew over the scaffold they were standing on.

The men were working on the Sheraton Hotel on South McDowell Street when the sudden windstorm hit. Firefighters helped pull the men out from under the debris and paramedics said one of them appeared to have serious injuries.
                    
“When the companies got here they were all down -- there was no issue with the rescue,  they were treated and transported,” said Battalion Chief Kent Davis.
                    
State safety inspectors arrived on the scene within an hour and began examining the debris.  Management at the Sheraton could not comment on the incident except to say they are concerned about the workers’ conditions.
                   
The same wind storm brought down part of a tree in the Eastover neighborhood—it landed on top of an SUV. No one was inside the car when that happened.
                   
Strong winds also caused some chaos at Charlotte’s annual Speed Street event in uptown, upending canopies and tossing merchandise out on the street.
                  
“We do this every weekend. We had 40 pound weights on every pole but they say it shot like a cannon across the street,” said Carla Brasher, who arrived to find her booth in shambles.
                   
Right next to her Lindsey Benton was helping to put up a new canopy after wind flattened the first one her company had erected.
                   
“They say our other one looked like it got hit by a Mack truck, really bad,” Benton said.

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