BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) — Crews cleaning up southern Illinois roads that have been submerged for weeks under floodwaters are using fire hoses and snowplows to clear the roadways of mud, slime and debris.

Illinois Department of Transportation Region 5 Operations Engineer Joseph Monroe tells the Belleville News-Democrat said that mud was caked on so thickly in some areas of Grafton and Alton that workers needed a fire hose and snowplow to remove it.

Monroe says most of the damage to roads so far has been erosion of shoulders. As currents, winds and storms push the water around the surface, material may be pulled away from the sides of the road.