Associated Press: Authorities put helicopters on standby for emergencies Tuesday as they evacuated residents from homes north of Sydney inundated by floodwaters, while wildfires continued blazing in the country’s drought-parched south. Australia’s populous east coast has been beset by weather extremes of fiery drought and torrential rains that scientists argue are being exacerbated by climate change. The Bourke region of New South Wales state’s northwest was declared a natural disaster area …