Press Releases
Date: 8/28/2005
Contact: Denise Bottcher or Roderick Hawkins at 225-342-9037
Commissioner of Administration Announces Closure of State Offices Due to the Likely Path of Hurricane Katrina
Additional Contact: Jim Baronet 225- 219-4347
BATON ROUGE--Commissioner of Administration Jerry Luke LeBlanc announces the closure of Louisiana State Offices in 16 southeastern parishes due to the apparent path of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico.
Commissioner LeBlanc, just before 8 p.m. Saturday, August 27, directed the closure of state offices for Monday, August 29, 2005 and Tuesday, August 30, 2005, in the following parishes:
. Ascension
. Assumption
. Jefferson
. Lafourche
. Livingston
. Orleans
. Plaquemines
. St. Bernard
. St. Charles
. St. Helena
. St. James
. St. John
. St. Tammany
. Tangipahoa
. Terrebonne
. Washington
Commissioner LeBlanc stressed that there will likely be additional state office closures as the approach of Hurricane Katrina becomes more apparent. "Additional closures will be announced and updates to this list will be issued periodically," LeBlanc said.
State employees are being instructed to monitor local media for office closures and for announcements as to when offices will be scheduled to reopen. The Commissioner also urged state office employees to call an 800 number, established by the Division of Administration for that purpose.
"The 800 number for office closings and openings will be updated as we determine exactly where and when Katrina will make landfall," said Commissioner LeBlanc. The number for state employees to call is 1-800-360-9660.
Local official quoted on Fox News (I'm paraphrasing): We hope everyone gets out, because if too many people stay behind, we are not going to have enough body bags.