I believe the original idea behind the 72 hour kit and the .gov recomendation was because they plan to be there within 72 hours to rescue you. I think this would normally be the case from looking at other disasters, this one was just larger than they could handle.
Some things I noticed from the NO mess, people didn;t have their ID's with them and it was needed to get through the checkpoints. I have seen many people who take their wellet out of their pocket and keep it in their car, desk drawer, whatever. You should always keep your wallet with you, it should be the first part of your EDC and should have the most basic ID, cash, credit/bank cards.
People were without clothing and shoes after they evacuated. I'm thinking of buying and extra pair of shoes and clothes and putting under my bed so if I do get caught by surprise I can grab them and have clothing if I have to exit via the window or roof. My cell phone, wallet, leatherman, etc all stay on the nightstand where I sleep so they are ready to go already.
5 gallon jugs are hard to carry if you need to bug out. I took an old backpack and filled it full of small bottles of water and keepit handy now so if I do have to bug out I can grab it and go. This is in addition to my normal edc/bob because I realized I didn't have enought water. I plan to rotate these bottles, put the new in the bag and drink what was in the bag.