Arizona's Summer Has Been So Hot And Dry That Saguaros Are Falling

It's been so hot in Arizona that even the saguaros can't stand it. The iconic cacti are falling over or losing their arms.

One women recently reported seeing 17 fallen saguaro cacti in a 10-mile radius of her Phoenix neighborhood. In Glendale, firefighters were called out to a house on Monday morning after a 40-year-old cactus fell on a family's home. A neighbor compared the sound of the plant falling to a car accident.

Like all things in nature, saguaros won't stand forever, but it's estimated that they can live 150 to 200 years under the right growing conditions, according to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. But some of the falling plants are not that old.

An underwhelming monsoon season and high temperatures are among the reasons why the young cacti are dying. Just over 42% of Arizona is under an "extreme drought," according to the Drought Impact Reporter.

“We get some rain, the humidity comes up, temperatures go down, plants recover,” Brian Whitfill, owner of Whitfill Nursery, told 12News. “That didn’t happen this year."

Saguaros get most of their moisture during monsoon season and can weigh between 3200 to 4800 pounds when fully hydrated, according to the museum. Without enough water, the cacti's roots shrivel up and causes the plant to fall and die.

Watering saguaros once a month can help the cacti survive. In the rare occasion a saguaro does land on your house, the Glendale Fire Department says to 911 and don't attempt to move it.

Photo: Getty Images