Built in the 1960s, Porto Alegre’s massive flood protection system would have easily prevented the city from flooding, if it hadn’t been systematically neglected for 20 years. However, the severity, human loss, material damage and magnitude of the destruction of these floods are indeed the direct responsibility of the Rio Grande do Sul State government and, in the case of Porto Alegre, its City Government. Even so, with the Guaíba reaching its highest level ever, the city should have still been well protected by the flood protection system, which was built to withstand water levels up to 6 meters high.