BOSTON -- A tornado warning was issued for parts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island Tuesday after a funnel cloud was spotted off Barrington, R.I.

The National Weather Service said that weather spotters saw a water spout off Barrington Beach shortly after 4 p.m. Forecasters said that the cloud was moving northeast at about 40 mph.

VIDEO: Storm Moves Across Taunton

The warning, which was canceled at about 4:50 p.m., was issued for parts of Bristol, Kent and Providence counties in Rhode Island and part of Bristol County in Massachusetts, but a flash flood warning remained in effect.

Residents were advised to stay inside their homes and take shelter on the lowest floor or basement.

"Right now, people should be indoors. If you are indoors, stay away from windows. Go to the lowest possible level," said Peter Judge of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency. "It's windy and some of these wind gusts can blow things around, and you don't want to get hit with flying glass."

NewsCenter 5's Jack Harper was in Taunton, Mass., at about 4:30 p.m., and said that the lightning and thunder was like "cannon fire" and that the rain was coming down in sheets of water.

A weather-related manhole fire was reported in Taunton after the storms.

In Needham, the storm took down tree limbs and power lines. National Grid was trying to restore power to thousands of customers. At one point, more than 3,000 customers were in the dark in the Bay State.

Chad Hunter, the patrol supervisor of Plymouth Harbor, said that boaters were warned about the approaching storm.

"It's calmed down quite a bit and the rain has slowed down, so we are looking pretty good," Hunter said.

A severe thunderstorm watch remained in effect until 10 p.m. for northern Connecticut, Massachusetts and central Rhode Island.