The cyclonic storm Mandous over the South West Bay of Bengal moved nearly west northwest wards with a speed of 8 km per hour during the past three hours and lay centered at about 620 km south east of Chennai and 530 km east south east of Karaikal. The system is near 360 km east north east of Trincomalee and Southeast of Jaffna, Srilanka. Mandous is very likely to move west northwest wards and cross North Tamilnadu, Puducherry and adjoining South Andhra Coast between Puducherry and Sriharikota with a maximum speed of 65 to 85 km per hour at around midnight tomorrow.<br />''<br />''A report<br />''<br />''Owing to the cyclonic storm Mandous, the Met department has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall in North Tamilnadu, Puducherry and Karaikal for the next 48 hours. District administrations in many districts have declared a holiday for schools today as a precautionary measure. NDRF teams have been sent to vulnerable districts expected to bear the impact of the cyclone . State Emergency control centres are monitoring the situation. Audio  messages have been sounded at coastal areas once every hour to alert the people to take precautions and stay away from the sea. Fishing activity has been banned in the coastal districts for another three days. <br />