1:30 p.m. CT Hurricane Rita Update, Monday, Sept. 26: Hibernia Announces Branch Openings Following Hurricane Rita; ATMs, Online Banking Ready to Assist Customers.

HOUSTON -- Hibernia Bank (NYSE:HIB) today announced the following news regarding its branch and non-branch locations in Texas and Louisiana following Hurricane Rita:

In Texas:

--In Beaumont, Orange and surrounding markets: closed.

--In Houston: most offices are open. A few offices are closed as employees who work in those locations return to the city following the evacuation.

--In the Rio Grande Valley and Austin: all offices open.

--Back-office support areas in Houston: open.

--Elsewhere in Texas: open. However, there could be spotty closings based on local conditions.

In Louisiana:

--All offices in Calcasieu and surrounding parishes: closed. The main offices in New Iberia and Franklin are closed because of power outages, but the remote drive-ups are open. Offices in Lafayette and Abbeville are open.

--In Terrebonne, Lafourche, Assumption, St. James and St. Charles parishes: all offices open, except the Chauvin office in Terrebonne Parish.

--In East Baton Rouge, Assumption, Livingston and Tangipahoa parishes: all offices open.

--In the New Orleans area: Offices that had re-opened following Hurricane Katrina remain open.

--All other Louisiana markets: open, but there could be a few closings.

In both states:

--Employees who are able to work, even if they are not physically at their normal work locations because of evacuations, are needed in both branch and non-branch offices. Those employees should contact their managers for work site assignments.

Customers in all of these markets have the option of using Hibernia ATMs and the bank's Internet banking service at www.hibernia.com.

Hibernia employees in areas 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 $22.1 billion in assets and 321 locations in 36 Texas counties and 34 Louisiana parishes. Hibernia Corporation's common stock (HIB) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.