NEW ORLEANS • Lights came back on for a fortunate few, some corner stores opened their doors and crews cleared fallen trees and debris from a growing number of roadways Wednesday — small signs of progress amid the monumental task of repairing the damage inflicted by Hurricane Ida.

Still, suffering remained widespread three days after Ida battered Louisiana and parts of Mississippi as the fifth-most-powerful hurricane to strike the U.S. Some low-lying communities remained largely underwater. Roughly a million homes and businesses still had no electricity, and health officials said more than 600,000 lacked running water.

The death toll rose to at least six after a coroner confirmed a 65-year-old woman had drowned in her Louisiana home and police in Maryland said a 19-year-old man was found dead in an apartment complex flooded by heavy rain from Ida’s remnants. And the staggering scope of the disaster began to come into focus, with a private firm estimating total damage from Ida could exceed $50 billion.

With all of New Orleans blacked out except for those running generators, Byron Lambert woke up at 1:30 a.m. when light suddenly came on . He first thought it was a burglar, then realized his home had electricity.

National Guard troops had handed out more than 141,000 meals, 143,000 liters of water and more than 500 tarps in Louisiana, according to Gov. John Bel Edwards’ office.

People walk up a street flooded in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida on Wednesday in Jean Lafitte, La.

the associated press