Livonia teen raises money for victims of Midland floods

LIVONIA, Mich. – A teenager from Livonia said she knew she had to do something when she saw the devastation caused by the floods in Midland County.

When Caitlin Jodway was a junior in high school, she organized a swimathon for a friend with muscular dystrophy and a hundred swimmers participated. The $26,000 raised was spent to buy a wheelchair accessible van. After the dam failures, she got back to work.

She said she feared for her grandmother, who lives alone in the area.

“My grandmother lives on Wixom Lake,” Jodway said. “She lives a little higher on the hill.”

RELATED: 'Devastating. Just Devastating’ -- Wixom Lake becomes muddy field after dam failures

Thankfully, the home wasn’t destroyed but the Livonia family knew they wouldn’t be spending the Memorial Day Weekend there. Her grandmother was brought back to Metro Detroit, but Jodway said she couldn’t stop thinking about the families who lost everything, so she turned to social media where she found people willing to donate food and supplies.

Two Men and a Truck offered to drive the donations up to Midland and on Sunday, families lined up to drop off supplies to be taken north Tuesday. They will be dropped off at an area high school and be distributed by the United Way.

More coverage on the Midland flooding crisis:

• ‘Looked like Niagra Falls’ -- Dam that created Wixom Lake gives way, flooding mid-Michigan communities
• Tittibiwassee River crests at 35 feet, could still be days before waters recede
• Shocking mid-Michigan flood pictures show ravaged roads, underwater houses, floating cars
• Gov. Whitmer on mid-Michigan floods: Devastation, possible legal action, peak flood level