Just get an addon’s manager (I use this one), it makes it so I don’t store ANYTHING in my community folder. Well, except for my Navigraph data, which I could probably move, and my permanent settings folder for the GNS530 mod, both of which get backed up daily anyway. I actually had to restore the GNS530 one from a backup over the weekend because I did a reinstall and accidentally deleted it. All my addon’s too, even though they weren’t actually stored in Community, but they were in the FS directory tree, which they didn’t have to be. And still don’t, I should move them elsewhere in case I have to do it again.)
EDIT: I got distracted and forgot to finish my point. I do that.
Anyway, having an addon’s manager makes emptying your community folder as easy as checking a few boxes, AND protects all your files from deletion because they don’t actually live in Community. So there’s nothing to worry about with unannounced updates. I’m not saying a head’s up wouldn’t be nice, it would, but this at least solves that particular problem if they don’t give us one.