New Orleans mostly without power.

Entergy, Louisiana’s largest utility, announced early Wednesday that it had restored electricity to some of its customers in New Orleans, but it could be days before it and other Louisiana cities hit hard by Hurricane Ida have full power again.

The company did not specify how many customers were back online. Nearly 1 million customers in Louisiana still were without power early Wednesday, days after Ida tore through the state, causing flooding and knocking out the transmission lines that power New Orleans. Restarting the city’s power station and critical infrastructure such as hospitals are top priorities.

“We do have a glimmer of light or hope, if you will,” Patrick Hamby, a spokesman for Entergy, said at a news conference in Jefferson Parish on Tuesday night. “The first light is coming.”

The news came with the caveat that it could be a few more days before Entergy would have a better estimate of when widespread power would be restored.

Joshua D. Rhodes, a researcher at the Webber Energy Group at the University of TexasatAustin,saiditwasdifficulttopredict when power would be fully restored without a full accounting from Entergy on the damage to its system.

“Usually, there is a core that remains,” Rhodes said. “But this is a complete and total blackout.”

He said that he suspected that New Orleans would regain electricity in its main core “relatively soon” but cautioned that it could take“weeks, if not months” for everyone to get their power back.

In addition to the widespread power outages, much of southeastern Louisiana was reeling from the Category 4 hurricane.

Drake Foret, 31, a helicopter pilot from Houma, flew over some of the worst-hit areas on Tuesday, getting a bird’s-eye view of the damage and trying to transport people and supplies when he could.

He said the damage was very bad in places like Golden Meadow, Galliano, Cut Off and Larose — a string of towns in the marshy areas along Bayou Lafourche, where strong winds had ripped the roofs off people’s homes.

“That area took a really hard impact,” Foret said. “I would say at least half of all of the houses down there have severe damage.”