BATON ROUGE – The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development wants to hear from employees who have been displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

DOTD employees may call 1-866-783-5493 toll-free between the hours of 6 a.m. and midnight. Employees who work in parishes where state facilities remain officially closed are initially being granted paid civil leave through Sept. 30. As conditions improve, official closures will change, so employees should stay tuned to radio and television announcements, check official state closures on the state’s Web site (www.louisiana.gov) or stay in touch with their supervisors or DOTD headquarters personnel via the toll-free telephone number.

Payroll checks are being deposited via electronic deposit unless employees were receiving checks by mail to a New Orleans area address. In these cases, employee paychecks are being held in payroll (225-379-1675), awaiting further instructions from employees.

DOTD field offices are working to determine when and/or where displaced employees may be reassigned, and DOTD officials are making every effort to get all employees back to work as soon as possible.

Johnny B. Bradberry, DOTD secretary, emphasized his hopes for the safe return of all Louisianians and noted the monumental tasks his agency faces.

“The task ahead of us will be difficult and frustrating,” he said. “Early on, we know we have to rebuild the I-10 twin spans between New Orleans and Slidell, make road and bridge repairs quickly and efficiently, clear thousands of tons of debris, do timely and accurate inspection work and perform major work on signs and signals.

“We must do all this and still implement a program for the rest of the state.”

-30-