BRIDGTON – The repercussions of storms like Hurricane Ivan are being felt even here, where two manufacturers of FM radio antennas are increasing production to meet new demands.

Severe winds and lightning crippled radio towers and broadcast antennas from the Caribbean to Alabama, according to representatives of both companies. In response, their production of emergency and replacement antennas has grown significantly.

“We’ve had several weeks now of doing nothing but emergency (antennas) to get these people back in order,” David Allen, sales manager for Shively Labs, said Thursday.

Allen would not say how many antennas his company has produced in response to the hurricane damage.

Matt Leland, radio product line manager for Dielectric Communications Inc., said his company has produced about 16 FM antennas this month.

“It’s a little up from what it’s been. It’s probably about twice what’s normal,” he said. “Some of it’s because of the storms.”

Producing radio antennas requires highly skilled labor, Allen and Leland said. Radio stations are assigned specific frequencies by federal agencies that regulate the airwaves. Each antenna has to be tuned separately.

Shively Labs had one broadcast customer on the island of Jamaica lose all its radio towers and most of their antennas, Allen said. “They saw winds as high as 150 to 160 miles per hour – I mean, nothing stays.”

On Thursday, work was being performed on the lab’s first replacement antenna for Jamaica. The 20-foot-long structure will be assembled in sections before being shipped.

Most replacement antennas being shipped to the Caribbean will cost between $800 and $10,000, Allen said.

Matt Leland said a 240-foot tower that Dielectric is shipping to St. Thomas will cost $100,000. A four-station, 1,600-foot tower replacing one lost between Mobile, Ala., and Pensacola, Fla., will cost at least $3.5 million to $4 million, he said.

The large Florida tower may be the biggest that has gone down this hurricane season. Pat Roberts, president of the Florida Association of Broadcasters, said it was the one big loss he had heard of.

The season is far from over, however.

Each week, he said, “It’s just like, OK, it’s the weekend coming, what storm’s coming and where’s it going to hit?”

However, he noted, Florida has so far fared much better than the Caribbean. “The Caribbean has been devastated,” he said.

One problem broadcasters face on the islands is that they have fewer secure inland locations to place their equipment.

Karl Young owns the Kingston, Jamaica-based broadcast company Irie FM. His company Web site, www.iriefm.net, contains a scrolling message that asks listeners to “please bear with us” as the station works to restore its network.

On Thursday, Young said the station is still broadcasting. He laughed and noted, in a rich Jamaican accent, that his people are “jugglers.”

“We are from a Third World country.” Young said, “So we understand, we can make it work.”

Young lost 10 or 12 antennas during Hurricane Ivan. He’s awaiting antennas from Shively, but said it takes time to produce them, so he’s not expecting any overnight deliveries.