HIB Hibernia Corp Cla

5:15 p.m. CT Hurricane Rita Update, Thursday, Sept. 22 Hibernia Bank (NYSE:HIB) today announced the following news regarding its operations in Louisiana, Southern Texas and East Texas in advance of Hurricane Rita: In Louisiana: -- All Hibernia branch and non-branch locations in the southwest corner of the state will be closed Friday and through the weekend. The affected parishes are: St. Mary, Iberia, Vermilion, Lafayette, Cameron, Jeff Davis, Calcasieu and Allen. -- Also closed Friday and through the weekend are all branch and non-branch locations in Lafourche, Assumption and Terrebonne parishes. In Southern Texas: -- All branch and non-branch locations in the southern part of the state, except for the Rio Grande Valley, will be closed Friday and will remain closed through the weekend. In East Texas: -- Because of the predicted inland effects of Hurricane Rita, the following branches will close at 3 p.m. Friday and remain closed through the weekend: Lufkin, Elysian Fields, Marshall, Longview Judson, Longview Loop, Gladewater, Mineola, Lindale, Hide-a-Way, Tyler Loop, Tyler South Broadway, Jacksonville, Palestine Sycamore, Palestine Loop and Chireno. Customers in all of these markets have the option of using Hibernia ATMs and the bank's Internet banking service at www.hibernia.com. All other Hibernia branch and non-branch locations are open for business as usual. Employees in mission-critical functions should be in touch with their managers for instructions. Branch and non-branch employees who have temporarily relocated to Houston from markets impacted by Hurricane Katrina should follow the lead of Hibernia's local management in Houston regarding any openings and closings, and they should heed the instructions of local authorities. Hibernia employees in areas that could be affected by Hurricane Rita should call the bank's Employee Emergency Information Line frequently for updates on any impact on Hibernia's offices and operations. Customers may call 1-877-706-4233 for a recorded update on storm impact or 1-800-262-5689 to reach Hibernia's customer service agents. Hibernia is on Forbes magazine's list of the world's 2,000 largest companies and Fortune magazine's list of America's top 1,000 companies according to annual revenue. Hibernia has $22.2 billion in assets and 318 locations in 35 Texas counties and 34 Louisiana parishes. Hibernia Corporation's common stock (HIB) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.