After a few days of ominous activity, a number of lower flank eruptions on 23 Nov 2014 occured from the Pico Piqueno ash cone (which had formed during the previous eruptions around the Bordeira area in 1995). Over the next 80 or so days, a fertile area of the island was effectively destroyed, preventing crops being grown.
Some 2000 people were identified in an evacuation plan and the re-opening of the
airport on 9 Jan 2015 made the logisitics of this a little easier, although some roads around the east of the island had been covered in alkalai basalt volcanic flows. The Portuguese Navy contributed a Lynx Mk 95, which included disaster relief, ferrying emergency supplies from ships, medical evacuations and surveying / coordinating with volcanologists on the ground.
EHM Marinha Portuguesa 