The bill does not contain language (the so-called Cassidy amendment, after Rep. William Cassidy, R-La.) included in the Homeland Security Department appropriations bill passed overwhelming by the House in June that would delay some of the rate increases for at least a year.

The other is a notice by the Senate Banking Committee that it will hold a hearing on the issue next Wednesday.

Industry lobbyists say the House Financial Services Committee will hold a similar hearing Oct. 9.

A provision similar to the Cassidy amendment is included in the Homeland Security appropriations bill reported to the Senate floor in July.

The continuing resolution was supposed to be voted on Sept. 11, but action was delayed until sometime next week. House Republican leadership is having difficulty securing enough Republican votes, because a diehard group of Tea Party disciples insist the House act to defund "Obamacare" despite the risk of a government shutdown.  

The House acted despite a letter from the entire Louisiana congressional delegation that changes need to be made in the Biggert-Waters Act of 2012. The letter was sent to legislative leaders on both sides of the aisle in both the House and the Senate.

The letter said the act, mean to make the NFIP actuarially sound, is failing to "make flood insurance accessible and affordable, leaving millions of policyholders in Louisiana and across the country in dire straits and facing exorbitant rate increases."

"Our delegation is united in our efforts to fix this law and find a way forward that will allow 486,525 Louisianans to continue living affordably along this working coast that is critical for commerce, energy production and seafood production and drains 40 percent of the North American continent," the letter said.

The letter added that in the event that there is no time to deal with the issue in regular order because the fiscal year ends Sept. 30 "We request this provision to delay the implementation of steep rate increase be included in whatever vehicle is used to complete the appropriations process for the 2014 fiscal year, whether that is a continuing resolution or an omnibus bill."

The notice of the Senate hearing said that those scheduled to testify include Alicia P. Cackley, director, Financial Markets and Community Investment, Government Accountability Office; Christine Shirley, NFIP coordinator for Oregon; Stephen Ellis, vice President, Taxpayers for Common Sense; and Birny Birnbaum, a consumer advocate based in Texas.

While officials of Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and other states, such as New York, New Jersey and Vermont, have been vocal in their opposition to the rate increases for months, it appears that North Carolina interests are now joining in the battle.

At a meeting in Morehead City last week, Tommy Thompson, chairman of the volunteer-run nonprofit organization that represents the interests of 20 coastal North Carolina counties, called the Biggert-Waters National Flood Insurance Program Reform Act the "hot button issue" for the "NC-20."

He lays the blame for the rate increases on the impact of 2005's Hurricane Katrina. Before that, the NFIP was a federal program that worked, he said.

"Now they're trying to raise your insurance rates because of what happened down there," Thompson said.

He said lower-income residents of coastal regions and service members stationed and renting homes in coastal areas could be most impacted by the soaring flood insurance premiums expected for properties that have potential for repetitive flooding losses.

"You're going to see people losing their homes because their federally backed mortgages require flood insurance and if their flood insurance goes from $1,000 to $4,000 or whatever, people are not going to be able to afford it," he said.

Renters will also be affected because landlords will pass on the increased costs by raising rents, Thompson said.