Life for the Lambert family is divided into two parts: before the tornado and after.
Before, their days revolved around ranch life outside of Hawley, school schedules and baseball games. Their home sat on land they loved, a house they built when Kasey and Wes were first married and where they were raising their two children, Lane and Allie. After May 2 two years ago, those same days would look very different.
Before the Storm
It started as a normal spring afternoon. Lane, now 9, had baseball games lined up. Rain had already canceled the first game, but the second was still scheduled that evening in Anson. Clouds drifted across the sky, but the weather didn’t feel necessarily threatening.
“It was actually really pretty outside,” Kasey said. “It was just one of those beautiful spring evenings.”
Behind their house, a rainbow arched across the yard. At nearly the same time, a tornado touched down in Anson, moving toward Hawley. The Lambert home sat directly in its path.
Kasey and Wes spent the first day as a married couple in the house. It was their first home, the place where they started their life together and prayed over the foundation, asking God to protect the family they hoped to raise there. That very foundation became the exact spot where they were sheltered when the tornado hit.
As evening approached, the air grew still in a way Kasey remembers vividly.
“It got very still and very quiet,” she said. Moments later, that foreboding calm vanished. Glass shattered. Bricks fell. The tornado tore through the house. Inside, the family clung to each other. Kasey remembers praying out loud.
“I was crying out to God,” she said.
Strangely, she cannot recall the roar that most survivors describe.
“I really believe God took the sound of the tornado from my memory,” she said.
What she does remember is the terrifying moment when Lane and Wes were ripped from her grasp.
“It was like reaching for a rope that was being pulled away from you. I felt Lane beside me, and then suddenly I didn’t.”
Within minutes, the house they had built together was gone. Debris from the property later scattered across more than 160 acres of ranch land.
Yet somehow, every member of the family survived.
Survival in the Aftermath
Storm chaser Freddy McKinney, who had been tracking the tornado and livestreaming the storm, arrived shortly after it passed. He helped load the family into his truck and drove them to Hendrick Medical Center in Abilene. Their dog Millie climbed in alongside them.
At the hospital, the extent of the injuries became clear. Lane had a dislocated shoulder and severe facial trauma. Wes had a broken arm and bruises covering much of his body. Kasey’s side was “a massive contusion,” she said. Remarkably, Allie, now 6, was unharmed.
The next morning, the full scope of the tornado’s destruction became evident. Some of their cattle were lost, along with their horse, Dumplin’, pet cows, Bluebonnet and Cinnamon, and their cat, Poky. Scout, one of the family’s dogs, was found badly injured and spent two months in veterinary care. The bills were covered by supporters who stepped forward, something Kasey says still amazes her.
Support from the community came quickly. Friends, neighbors and strangers brought donations, meals and hands-on help. Kasey describes it as people becoming the “hands and feet of Jesus.”
“Everyone we knew just showed up,” she said.
Her parents’ home near Abilene Christian University became a hub for donations. Volunteers helped sort and wash clothing recovered from the debris. ACU students washed the salvaged clothes, while Hardin-Simmons University’s animal science program offered to help cover Scout’s veterinary bills.
Even small gestures carried meaning. On Allie’s birthday, a stranger bought the family donuts. At Logan’s Roadhouse in Abilene, another stranger paid for their meal after recognizing them from news coverage.
“You’d be at your absolute end and then look up and God would send someone to bless you,” Kasey said. “We needed it so desperately.”
Rebuilding More than a Home
While Kasey focused on healing, Wes stepped into the enormous task of handling the aftermath. He coordinated cleanup and figured out the next steps for rebuilding.
“He fixed his family,” Kasey said. “I say over and over that Wes put his body over ours to take the impact. He’s continued that through rebuilding. He’s an incredible husband and father.”
The decision to rebuild on the same foundation where their original house stood felt right. It was the spot they had prayed over years earlier, the place where their family had survived the tornado, and the site where their life together had begun. Construction took months, and while the new house was built, the family rented a home in Abilene. For Lane and Allie, living in a neighborhood offered unexpected joy. Halloween was a first for them, and a memorable one.
“They definitely liked going from house to house trick-or-treating,” Kasey said.
Trauma-focused therapy helped Lane and Allie process what had happened. Allie is still frightened by strong winds, and Lane is triggered by certain phone alerts that sound like weather warnings.
Kasey said that Freddy McKinney still remains a resource for the family, helping Lane understand radar and storms.
“Freddy lets us know what he thinks about a certain storm or weather event,” she said. “In fact, last June there was a tornado warning and Freddy was very reassuring, while also being honest and realistic.”
Kasey admits she experiences storm anxiety but continues to pray for rain as a rancher’s wife, finding the balance between fear and faith.
Home Again
The new house, completed in late January of 2025, carries deep meaning. Kasey said that their storm shelter is the “most important room,” but another detail resonates even more—the home has the same number of bedrooms as before. “We didn’t have to take a bedroom out,” she said. For her, that simple sentence represents something profound. They did not have to redesign the home around the loss of a child. All four members of the family who lived in the original house are still together, and the rooms that held their memories remain filled with their children.
As they rebuilt, Kasey said she felt survivor’s guilt but also gratitude. The destruction showed them the fragility of life but also the depth of their resilience.
Through it all, the community carried them. Friends combed through debris to recover items with sentimental value—baseballs with the children’s baby footprints, Kasey’s wedding dress, Wes’ wedding ring. Those small pieces of the past became symbols of continuity and hope.
“Seeing people pick up everything they could find meant more than I can explain,” she said.
Purpose After the Storm
Over time, routines returned. School, baseball and daily life moved forward, but the memories of that night remain vivid.
Lane’s interest in weather and storm tracking grew out of the trauma, and Kasey says the experience has brought her and Wes closer. She believes their survival has a purpose.
“The Lord is the reason we’re alive,” she said. “We want to use it in a way that brings glory to God.”
Their story now serves as a reminder of the importance of taking severe weather seriously and recognizing the ways a community can come together when everything seems lost.
If it had happened at night, she said, they might not have survived. Instead, they were spared, and their survival carries meaning. Through faith, family and the generosity of others, the Lamberts have reclaimed life from the storm.
Kasey said one of the hardest parts after the tornado are when the kids know there are going to be storms during the night.
“Allie would often ask if there were going to be any tornados and having to tell her that there is always a chance for one is unbelievably hard,” she said, adding that “those are the times that I have to just really lean into teaching her that the Lord was with us then and He will be with us again.”
Today, the rebuilt house stands on the same foundation, filled with the sounds of everyday life, proof of resilience and faith. For the Lambert family, the “after” is not only a continuation of life but a reminder of purpose, love and the extraordinary ways people come together when tragedy strikes.
By Molly Hill
Photos By Kerr Broadstreet Photography
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