中國網站品牌欄目（頻道）
Storms spawning deadly tornados flattened buildings, overturned vehicles and knocked out power lines on Wednesday as they tore through central and southern United States, raising the death toll from severe weather to almost 300.
States of emergency were declared in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Oklahoma, and governors called out the National Guard to help with rescue and cleanup operations.
The National Weather Service had preliminary reports of more than 110 tornado touchdowns on Wednesday and Thursday.
Especially hard-hit was the southern state of Alabama, hit by two lines of storms, one in the morning and one in the evening.
The storms killed at least 25 people in Alabama over the past 24 hours, Yasamie August, of the Alabama Emergency Management Agency, said on Thursday.
An evening tornado tore through the city of Tuscaloosa, and the city "has been majorly impacted," August said.
"We're still trying to assess how bad the damage is," said August, adding that the local EMA office was among the buildings struck.
Tuscaloosa Mayor Walter Maddox told CNN that the tornado "obliterated blocks and blocks" of his city.
A tornado also struck the city of Birmingham, and officials were still assessing the damage, August said.
Some 74 tornadoes were reported on Wednesday, and there have been hundreds of reports of wind and hail damage, the national weather service said.
The NWS issued a rare "high-risk" warning of tornadoes, hail, flash flooding and dangerous lightning for parts of Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi, and warned that severe weather could also strike 21 states from the Great Lakes down to the Gulf Coast and across to the Atlantic.
Questions:
1. What part of the US was hit by tornadoes this week?
2. What is the death toll?
3. Which states declared states of emergency?
Answers:
1. Central and southern United States.
2. Almost 300.
3. Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Oklahoma.
（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）
About the broadcaster:
Nelly Min is an editor at China Daily with more than 10 years of experience as a newspaper editor and photographer. She has worked at major newspapers in the U.S., including the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit Free Press. She is also fluent in Korean.
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