Local lawmakers vowed Athens “will build back stronger” as damage assessments continued Thursday following the EF-1 tornado that wrecked several buildings last weekend.

Speaking at a news conference in Athens City Hall, where pallets of donated water and energy drinks were stacked up, Mayor Ronnie Marks said the city was “very, very blessed” that the storm struck when it did — late Saturday, rather than earlier, when businesses would have been open and people would have been downtown.

“We’ve got a lot of damage, heartbreaking news for some of our local merchants,” he said, but “they’re going to get back on their feet.”