WORCESTER, Mass. -- It's hard to imagine a tornado in Massachusetts deadly enough to kill 94 people, but it happened 50 years ago this month in Worcester.

WORCESTER TORNADO Click here for tornado facts, residents' memories and important information to keep your family safe.

NewsCenter 5's J.C. Monahan reported that for survivors, the memories are as vivid as if it were yesterday.

Russell Oliver lives just blocks from the home he and his wife shared the day the tornado hit.

"Every time there's a thunderstorm, I think about it," Oliver said.

He had just returned from work on what was a hot and humid day. It was clear a storm was coming.

"The clouds looked like a crate of eggs tipped upside down," Oliver said. "I could hear a roar. It was like the roar of a diesel train. I looked out the back window and a couple of 275 gallon drums flew by the second floor."

The tornado moved quickly and twisted the house on its foundation. Windows came crashing in and it was over before they could reach the basement.

"It was very, very quiet, very quiet for about 10 minutes -- until people started to come to that were trapped in the houses," Oliver said.

"There were two killed in that house. She was killed there. I think there was one killed there," Oliver said.

When the tornado hit Worcester, it was at its strongest. Winds were later estimated at up to 300 mph. It took just 14 minutes for the tornado to plow through Worcester. In that short time, 58 lives were lost.

Jack and Jennette Hildreth were celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary on that June evening 50 years ago.

"It seemed like it happened yesterday," Jennette Hildreth said.

She was feeding their two small children and their neighbor's two kids at the dining room table when Jack Hildreth looked outside.

"The minute I saw that bend in the clouds, I said, 'that's a tornado,' and then I dismissed it. No, not in Worcester. Not in New England," Jack Hildreth said.

He soon changed his mind.

"I yelled, 'everybody in the cellar.' And they flew," Jack Hildreth said. "Our bulkhead door blew off, steel bulkhead, came through the dining room window. It would have killed the three kids. It would have taken their heads right off. Right where they were sitting."

They reached the cellar stairs just as the tornado passed overhead.

The tornado spared lives while it took others. While their house stood standing, two streets over houses were leveled. Jack Hildreth and a friend went to help those who were hurt. He said that he will never forget one teenage girl.

"We put her in our wagon, and she died in my arms as we turned into Memorial hospital," he said. "Would you believe her father showed up the next day to thank us. That was pretty tough."

In little more than an hour, the tornado cut a path from Petersham, Mass., to Southboro, Mass., claiming 94 lives. Thousands were left homeless. Debris was found 45 miles away. It was a few moments of destruction some people will never forget.

Meteorologists Dick Albert and Harvey Leonard will explain how the tornado developed and the path it took 50 years ago. Watch "The '53 Worcester Tornado" on Channel 5 Tuesday at 8 p.m.