China Meltdown: Buy Canned Goods, Bottled Water Amid Stock Market Woes, Warns Former British Treasury Official

Damian McBride, a treasury official under former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, urged Britons to stock up on canned goods and bottled water Monday amid a worldwide stock market slump. McBride posted his thoughts on Twitter, suggesting the global financial situation could soon become a larger crisis.

"Advice on the looming crash, No.1: get hard cash in a safe place now; don't assume banks & cashpoints will be open, or bank cards will work," McBride posted. "Crash advice No.2: do you have enough bottled water, tinned goods & other essentials at home to live a month indoors? If not, get shopping." His last piece of advice was to set up a rallying point with loved ones in case transportation and communication abilities were to be cut off.

China's stock market slumped heavily Monday, with the Shanghai composite index falling nearly 8.5 percent. It dropped another 7.7 percent Tuesday. Markets worldwide reacted: The European FTSE100 fell 4.5 percent Monday, losing some 60 billion pounds in value, but largely rebounded Tuesday after China's central bank slashed interest rates. In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared back early Tuesday after a sharp drop amid a sell-off Monday.

McBride, who received his fair share of ridicule on Twitter in response to his comments, was unconvinced Monday that markets would rebound. He credited his former boss with preventing a disaster during the 2008 recession and told one Twitter user that “what's coming is on 20 times that scale.” McBride also said measures taken seven years ago, such as quantitative easing or cutting interest rates, were no longer available.

McBride served as an adviser to Brown -- who was prime minster from 2007 to 2010 -- and was the head of communications at the British treasury for a brief period. He also worked on Brown's campaign to succeed Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2007. McBride resigned in 2009 after emails surfaced showing he talked with someone in the Labour Party about spreading false rumors about other politicians.