'a severe hit' is correct and usable in written English.
It is a phrase often used to describe an impactful event or occurrence. For example, "The stock market took a severe hit when the economy crashed."
The revelations are a severe hit to Wells Fargo's reputation.
The neighborhood's residential market took a severe hit, and developers have put off major investments.
As sales plunged in the 2000s, music retailers have also taken a severe hit.
Customers are making more transactions online and trust in a brand can take a severe hit if sensitive information ends up in the wrong hands.
These experiences may result in a severe hit to self-esteem; returning home to loving parents can sometimes soothe that wound.
"There is a severe hit on GDP," said Richard Damania, lead environmental economist for the Bank and author of High and Dry: Climate Change, Water and the Economy.
"At the same time, morale takes a pretty severe hit any time you have layoffs.
The U.S.T.A.'s selections appeared to have taken a more severe hit even though this sector fared fairly well last year.
When her personal life took a similarly severe hit early last spring -- as she found herself newly alone, and suddenly without a home -- Ms. Kresler reacted with characteristic aplomb.
Second, both Social Security and Medicare are much more important, relative to income, to less-affluent Americans, so delaying their availability would be a far more severe hit to ordinary families than to the top 1 percent.
On 7 December 1988, a severe earthquake hit in Armenia, a former republic of the Soviet Union (USSR); on 11 September 2001, a manmade attack of similar impact hit New York City.
