In response to media inquires about severe weather damaging a Caterpillar facility in Oxford, Mississippi PEORIA, Ill., Feb. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A portion of Caterpillar's facility in Oxford, Mississippi, was damaged and collapsed Tuesday, February 5, as the result of severe weather in the region. Following Caterpillar weather safety guidelines, employees in the facility took cover in two designated storm shelters inside the building. All employees are accounted for, with only a few minor injuries being reported. Caterpillar is working to assess the impact of the damage to this facility, that manufactures hose couplings for Caterpillar products. Caterpillar has contracted with a design and construction company to immediately begin work to bring portions of the Oxford facility back into operation as soon as possible. In the meantime, Caterpillar is working with suppliers, its global dealer network and internally to meet customer demands. It is too early to know how the damage to the Oxford facility will impact production at other Caterpillar facilities. Caterpillar is communicating with its employees in Oxford to make sure they understand temporary work and training assignments and benefits information. Caterpillar Foundation has also announced it is providing a $100,000 grant to the American Red Cross to be used for disaster relief efforts in the region. The Caterpillar Foundation will also match cash contributions made by March 1 from Cat employees, retirees and Cat dealer employees to the American Red Cross up to an additional $50,000. For more than 80 years, Caterpillar Inc. has been making progress possible and driving positive and sustainable change on every continent. With 2007 sales and revenues of $44.958 billion, Caterpillar is the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines and industrial gas turbines. The company also is a leading services provider through Caterpillar Financial Services, Caterpillar Remanufacturing Services, Caterpillar Logistics Services and Progress Rail Services. More information is available at http://www.cat.com/. SAFE HARBOR Certain statements in this release relate to future events and expectations and as such constitute forward-looking statements involving known and unknown factors that may cause actual results of Caterpillar Inc. to be different from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. In this context, words such as "will," "expect," "anticipate" or other similar words and phrases often identify forward-looking statements made on behalf of Caterpillar. It is important to note that actual results of the company may differ materially from those described or implied in such forward-looking statements based on a number of factors and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, changes in economic conditions; currency exchange or interest rates; political stability; market acceptance of the company's products and services; significant changes in the competitive environment; epidemic diseases; changes in law, regulations and tax rates; and other general economic, business and financing conditions and factors described in more detail in the company's Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 23, 2007. This filing is available on our website at http://www.cat.com/sec_filings. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements. DATASOURCE: Caterpillar Inc. CONTACT: Jim Dugan, Corporate Public Affairs of Caterpillar Inc., +1-309-494-4100, Mobile, +1-309-360-7311, Web site: http://www.cat.com/

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