Landmark Hibernia Tower in Lake Charles to Reopen Oct. 10; Hurricane Repairs Clear Way for Tenants to Return to Offices

The Hibernia Tower (NYSE:HIB) in downtown Lake Charles,
La., will reopen Monday, Oct. 10, allowing many of the companies that
call the landmark building home to get back to business as usual.
   The Hibernia Tower sustained damage to its three-story atrium as
well as many of its upper level floors when Hurricane Rita hit Sept.
24. It has been closed for repair work for the past two weeks but
offices on floors five and higher are now ready for occupancy again.
   "We're extremely proud of the diligent effort put forth by our
property management staff and contractors to get the Hibernia Tower
open so quickly," says Thom Williams, Hibernia's president for the
Lake Charles market. "While there is still work to be done before our
bank can reoccupy its branch in the building, we felt it was vital to
make the Hibernia Tower available again so our tenants can resume
normal operations from their offices there. Hibernia stands ready to
serve our customers and our community as we all recover from Hurricane
Rita."
   Hibernia continues to re-open branches in the Lake Charles area
that were closed since Hurricane Rita. The company's Moss Bluff
drive-thru at 372 Sam Houston Jones Pkwy., Highway 14 office at 1920
Highway 14, South City office at 3225 Ryan St. and Country Club office
at 1855 Country Club Rd. all opened this week, as did the Sulphur
office at 1300 S. Ruth Street and the Maplewood office at 3146
Maplewood Dr. in Sulphur and the Iowa office at 109 S. Thompson Ave.
in Iowa. Additionally, the Enterprise office at 1100 Enterprise Blvd.
in Lake Charles and the Vinton office at 1601 Loree St. in Vinton will
re-open on Monday, Oct. 10.
   The Hibernia Tower stands at 22 stories and is a dominant feature
in the Lake Charles skyline. Opened in 1984, the building had been the
headquarters of Calcasieu Marine Bank, which merged with Hibernia in
1996.
   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 34 Louisiana parishes and 36 Texas counties. Hibernia
Corporation's common stock (HIB) is listed on the New York Stock
Exchange.