If you bought a house with a creek in the back yard, you're in the flood plain whether or not the thing actually poses a danger to your property. If you budgeted $2000 a year for flood insurance (based on the disclosure of said flood plain) and suddenly your insurance jumps to $12,000 per year with no notice and no warning, how would you feel?
The banks and realtors were not required to warn anyone that, although insurance was afforable last year, this year it's not and there's nothing you can do but allow the home to be forclosed.
This only affects people who hold mortgages. People who own their property outright can cloose to forego flood insurance. People who have spare cash right now will be able to buy up all the waterfront properties at fire sale prices, since their owners will have little choice but to walk away and allow the banks to forclose.
Who benefits from this? Not you or me, since our taxes go up no matter what the flood insurance program does. The people benefitting from this are the ones with ready cash to snap up all the soon-to-be forclosed properties.